
Qass. 
Book. 



A ''* h 



VV 



^9] 



mMi^w^A^^®^ 



SOPHISMS, GROSS MISREPRESENTATIONS, AND 
ERRONEOUS QUOTATIONS 



CONTAINED IN ] 



« AN AMERICAN'S " " LETTER TO THE 

EDINBURGH REVIEWERS" ^4-' 

OR 



SLAVERY 



INIMICAL TO THE CHARACTER OF THE GREAT FATHER OF ALL, 

UNSUPPORTED BY DIVINE REVELATION, A VIOLATION 

OF NATURAL JUSTICE, AND HOSTILE TO THE 

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 



^meriran $ntrrpentrente« 



By JOHN WRIGHT. 



* We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal— that they are endowed by 
the Creator with certain unalienable rights— that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness." Declaration of Independence, 

" I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just ; and that his justice cannot sleep forever.'' 

Mr, Jejferson^s No'e on Slaveiu, 



by 
lot 

a." 

*♦ Therefore they" (the Indians) "had sent back the two Missionaries, with many thanks, promising', 
that when they saw the black people among us restored to freedom and happiness they wouM 
gladly recave our Missionaries." Elias Boudinot, 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 

1820 



To JOHJT qUIJ^CY ADMIS, Esq'r. 

Secretary of State. 

SIR, 

Permit me respectfully to dedicate the following 
pages to you. Tlie high official station you fill : Your 
weight and influence in society, independent of that sta- 
tion : and, above all, your high character, uniform hu- 
manity, and genuine and constant adherence to the prin- 
ciples of Freedom and Independence, have induced me 
to take the liberty of connecting your name with 
this cause, and of placing under your patronage this well- 
intended, though feeble effort to contribute my mite to- 
wards bringing about an event, which must be consider- 
ed of vast importance by every man, who understands 
the principles of natural justice, and who, from his 
heart respects the rights and liberties of the various 
branches of the great human family. 

But, Sir, much as I respect and honor the office 
which you fill ; neither that consideration, nor of your 
circumstances in life combined therewith, would have 
been, of themselves, sufficient to call forth this dedica- 
tion. But when, in one so circumstanced and so hon- 
ored by his country, I view and contemplate, the genu- 
ine philanthropist — the friend oj mankind — the man 
who is just to the poor despised negro — who cheerfully 
foregoes every advantage or profit which might accrue 
from a participation in the iniquitous system. A man 
whose liands have never, either directly or indirectly, 
been polluted with the crime of slavery — who, to avoid 
being a participator therein, has submitted to inconve- 



IV 

niences ; and rather than have slaves in his liouse to 
administer to his domestic comforts, has occasionally 
stooped to do those things himself which are generally 
performed hy servants — stoop ! did I say ; I heg i»ar- 
don, Sir, — It is this vieAV of you that calls forth my 
highest admiration. In such conduct and under the in- 
fluence of such motives^ you rise in the scale of human 
dignity. You thereby display that purity of sentiment, 
that independence of character, that consistency of mind 
and action, and that true greatness of soul, which exalt 
and ennoble human nature. In such situations, and un- 
der the influence of such sentiments, you can look down 
with conscious superiority, upon the proudest monarchs 
and the most haughty nobles of the earth ; who in the 
midst of pomp and pageantry, vainly imagine the rest 
of mankind made for their accommodation. In such si- 
tuation too, the oppulent slaveholder has to look up, to 
contemplate that excellency to which he cannot aspire : 
and, while he envies those feelings produced by that 
rectitude of heart and conduct which he has not the vir- 
tue to imitate, he must sink in conscious inferiority and 
feel the degradation of his own situation. 

It is this view of your character, Sir, separate from 
all political considerations (for 1 have not interfered with 
the politics of the country) that has drawn forth this 
humble but sincere tribute of respect, and I cannot re- 
sist the impulse of my soul, to embrace this opportunity 
publicly (o testify, how much I honor and venerate tlie 
man, who, exalted in public station, and in circumstan- 
ces above the mass of the people, has the virtue and in- 
tegrity, to resist the temptations of profit and interest ; 
and who, by example shines as a light in the midst of 
the contaminating tliousands that surround him. 



But, Sir, that my motives in tlms addressing you 
may not be misconstrued, and tliat I may at once silence 
any injurious insinuations, permit me frankly to state, 
that, while I pay this tribute to yoiir exalted virtue ?ind 
uniform consistency, as the friend of liberty ; mine is 
not the language of flattery or sycophancy. Believe me, 
Sir, I am actuated by no interested motives — I ask no 
favor — I seek no situation. It is not as the dispenser of 
places, but as the friend o{ justice, humanity and of man 
that I address you. My pen shall never be prostituted 
to aggrandize myself. Had I been capable of doing this, 
I might have done it witli better effect, in another coun- 
try, Avhere talent and sycophancy combined, seldom pass 
unnoticed or unrewarded. Dispense to otliers as you 
please, jr s your judgment dictates ; all I wish or de- 
sire is, that you may continue the stanch friend of human 
liberty — an advocate for the equal rights of all men of 
every hue ; and that you may, at no very distant period, 
find the benevolent wishes of your soul completely 
crowned. 

With these feelings and motives, I dedicate this 
work to you. — Accept the tril)ute I offer. If it contains 
no other merit, it has that of sincerity. And believe me. 
Sir, should I see cause, I shall be as ready to censure 
and condemn in you, any departure from the principles 
of justice and humanity, as I have now been to praise 
and commend an adherence to them. 

Wishing that your example may be followed hy 
many, I beg leave to subscribe myself, 

Sir, Your very humble servant 

In the cause of hum-'n liberty, 
JOHN WRIGHT. 
Washington^ January 10, 1820. 



VIU 

the edge of those severe remarks Is not directed agahist that writer's 
sentiments oa slavery; it is noi aimed at his iirgrments; but at and 
against, what no honest writer would allow himself in — against, what 
every lover of Truth must disapprove and condemn — against, wilful 
perversion and misquotation oi language, and intentional misrepresen- 
tation of the design of tiie writers whom he opposes. — If the charge, 
■which I have bronglit against this writer, be correct, no one can think 
me too severe : And should it be incorrect, he has it in his power to 
rep^l the chsrge and transfer it to me : for either the charge is just and 
substantiated or, I am myself guilty of the thing v/hich I impute to him. 
— V/e both 'stand before the tribunal of the public; v^e have to be 
we' died in the scales of liierary }u«tice ; one of us must be found 
wanting ; and which ever it be, iet infamy rest on his head. 

THE AUTHOR. 



mmi*¥^ACT®ii^ ^c, 



Whew a^Titer, in reply to anotlicr, comes before the 
public, on an important siib|ect ; wiiatevcr may be his station 
in life; his claim to respect must rest on the stren.i^tli oi' his 
arguments, the correctness ol' his statemei ts, the fair and 
honest construction he puts up n his antagonist's language, 
and the evident motives by \vhi( h he is actujited. 

Had the gentleman, wiiom I now undertake to refute, ad- 
]»ered to this line of conduct, in his reply to the Edinburgh 
Reviewers, I should have treated him with that courtesy and 
respect, to which he would have been entitled. Tiiis I would 
liave done, even if his station in life had been on a level with 
the poorest man in the district: for, in a republican country, 
all are on a level ; the laws know of no distinction ; nor will 
good men know any, save those of talent and virtue. But high 
as this writer ranks in circumstances, and nearly as he is 
said to be allied to the first official ( haracter in the United 
States, (for, if I am not incorrectly informed, the pamphlet is 
the production of one, who is by marriage, nearly related to 
the President,) neither his circumstances nor his connexions 
shall screen him from that reproof and exposure which hia 
mis-statements, mis-representations, and mutilated, perverted 
quotations demand. 

I had intended confining my refutation principally to this 
writer's reasonings and a^sei-tions on natural Justice and 
divine revelation ; takins; it for granted, that, as a fair and 
honest combatant, he had done no injustice to the writers in 
question : but having Just obtained the LXI. Number of the 
Edinburgh Review, wliich contains the remarks against which 
his strictures are directed ; 1 find that he has gi*ossly, and I 
think wilfully, perverted the language, and unhandsomely 
quoted their words in a detached manner; separating them 
from the connexion in which they stand, to make them express 
a very ditTerent meaning Irom v.hat tiiey were evidently in- 
tended to convey. This induced me to alter, or rattier extend 
my original plan, that, by exposing the, conduct of the writer, 



10 

I niii^lit show what dependence is to be placed on his pretend- 
ed good will to the Rcvicwei's; and how far he, who, under 
the mask oi' jjoliteness and seeming respect, perverts the plain, 
unequivocal language of his o])ponent, in order to support a 
falling, iniquitous system, by enlisting on his side those national 
feelings and ])i-ejudices which he pretends to deprecate, may 
be considered sincere and correctly honest in his quotations 
from the scriptures ; and how far he, w ho puts a false gloss 
on the remarks of his fellow man, ought to be regarded, when 
he attempts to make the Almighty a party with him in the 
crime, of which he openly and unblushing avows himself to be 
guilty. 

To a controvertist of this description, I should certainly 
have paid as little attention, as he professes himself disposed 
to do to other writers whom he mentions, did I not conceive, 
that his niisre])resentations and false glosses might pass for 
just and honest criticisms with tliose wlio have not the oppor- 
tunity of reading the Edinburgh Review for themselves ; and 
did 1 not also feel con\ biced, that however inconsistent and 
soi)histical a writer may be, his crafty insinuations, and un- 
reiiited, wilful misconstructions, might make impressions on 
some, to the procrastination of that event, the consummation 
of which, must be devoutly wished for by e\evy good man. 
And as I have before taken up my pen in defence of the un- 
alienable rights of man, I consider myself bound, at this very 
important juncture, to step foi'ward again, and in the face of 
this country, and of the world, oppose every attempt to rivet 
the chains of our fellow-men, and perpetuate that state of degra- 
dation into w hid), not their own misconduct, but the avarice, 
injustice, and oppression of others have plunged them : and 
to do all I can to aid the genuine friends of humanity in their 
benevolent exertions to drive the lingering foe from his last 
refuge ; and in ushering in that morn which shall hail the un- 
fortunate African as a ♦* man and a brother." 

There is, in the literary world, a kind of retributive jus- 
tice, whi{ h fails not to overtake, and that speedily, the trans- 
gressor. And he, wlio, wilfully or wantonly injures his op- 
ponent, must not expect to escape that tribunal. The motley 
robe which he makes for, and arrays his antagonist in, will 
j)rove combustible, and the fame of its inventor will be con- 
sumed in its flames. ^J'he consequences of the false state- 
ment, and unjust censure bi'ougbt against the Edinburgh Re- 
viewers, must fall upon this writers's own head. A discern- 
ing public will judge between him and them, and pronounce 
correctly on the merits or demerits of each. 

That a man of the writer's rank in society, and of his 
abilities and acqiiired ad^ antages, should read the plain, un- 
ambiguous language of the Reviewers, and not understand it. 



11 

is not only improhaUe, but impossible. Tliat he sliouUI both 
road and understand it, and yet pervert and inisi-eprescnt its 
design, must^ at once raise our astonishment and contempt, 
and cannot fail to sink his fame, and degrade him in tlie litera- 
ry circles. That this writer has not gone on hearsay evi- 
dence, but has read for himself, we may gatlier from his own 
publication. And that he has pei'verted, wilfully perverted, 
what he has read, may be fully demonstrated by a fair com- 
parison ot^the Reviewer's own language, and his mutilated 
quotations. ' 

He has attempted to inflame tlie minds of the " American 
people," to call forth their worst feelings, and thereby to lead 
them from the criminal features of slavery ; that by raising 
their indignation against the Reviewers, who have protested 
against the inhuman system ; he may ensnare their judg- 
ment, and make them vulnerable to those impressions which 
his craft and sophistry, in defence of the system, is calculated 
to make on those, whose discernment and thinking faculties, 
arc suspended by their passions and resentments. 

This writer has, page 3, charged the Reviewers with 
characterizing ** the American people, as vulgar and gascon- 
ading :^' and he has kept up, and reiterated the charge 
through the different parts of liis pamphlet, frequently intro- 
ducing the words with quotation marks ; and in the page al- 
luded to, he has marked it thus, « vulgar and gasconading," 
as if it were a literal and correct quotation of the Reviewers' 
own words. As this phrase does not occur in the Review : 
as they have neither used the sentence, nor- any that can con- 
vey such an idea, but have expressed themselves in language 
just the reverse: I ask this writer, upon what rule of fair 
criticism, or on what principle of honor or common honestii^ he 
hsisfabricated the sentence ; put it into the mouth of the Re- 
viewers ; and by his quotation marks, told the « American 
People," that the Reviewers had used it ? 

The only place in the review of the books alluded to, 
where both the above words occur in a sentence, runs thus : 
(for the sake of connexion I will insert the preceding part of 
the paragraph.) 

« The travellers agree^ we think, in complaining of the in- 
subordination of American children, — and do not much like Ame- 
rican ladies. In their criticisms upon American gasconade, they 
forget, that vulgar people of all countries, are full of gasconade." 

The foregoing is the only paragraph in which the Re- 
viewers have introduced the word " gasconade." Kvery read- 
er must, at a first glance, be convinced that it neither charac- 
terizes the " American People as vulgar," nor as *< gascon- 
ading :" and he must be blind indeed who cannot discern in it, 
a defence of the « American People," against those writers 



IS 

who so cliararterize tlit'iu. And it is with the same design,, 
and ill the same sense, that the term *• vulgaiit)" is used a 
little {'iiither on in the same connexion. " 'J In toih)\viii;5 sam- 
})le," saj they, •• «)t' American vulgarity is nol nnenterlain- 
int;;:" They then give the follow ing extra( t tVoni Mr. ralmee's 
Journal : •• On arriving at tlu> tavein door, the landlord 
makes his appearance. Landlord. Your servant, gentlemen, 
this is a line day. Jiiswcr. Very fine. Lund. \(>n"vegot 
two nice creatures ; tiiey are right c/t'gfln/ matches. JIns. Yes. 
^ve hought them lor mate lies. Lund 1 hey costn%c(ip of dol- 
lars, (a pause and knowing look,) 200 I calculate. Jlns. Y>s, 
they cost a {rood sum. Land. Possil)Ie ! (ajjanse) going west- 
Avard to Ohio, g(MUlemeii ? Jhis \\ e are going to IMiiiadel- 
phia. Land. Philadelpliia ! aii, that is a (/reaiZ/w/ laige jilace, 
three or lour times as hig as Lexington. Jlns. 'Jen times as 
large. Land. Is it hy Geoi ge ! w hat a mighty heap of houses ; 
(a pause) hut I reckon yon was not redred in IMiiladelphia. 
^ns. Philadelphia is not our native jilace. Land. Peihaps 
fi7rfljf/ up in Canada. Jins. No, we arc from England, Land. 
Js it possible ! well I calcniated you were from ahroad : (a 
pause) how long have you heen from the old country? *9ns. 
y\ e lelt England last ^]larcll. Land. And in August here you 
arc in Kentnck. AVell I should iiave gvei;sed you had been in 
ti.e States some years, you sijcak almost as good English as 
we do !'* 

<* I'his dialogue is not a literal copy ; but it embraces most 
of the frecjuent and iini)ro])er appli( ation of words used in the 
back country, with a few New England jihiases. By the log- 
honse farmer and taron-kceper Wn^y are used as often, and as 
erroneously as they occur in the above discourse." 

"This," say the Reviewers, '• is ol course intended as a 
I'cprescntation of the manners of the low, or at best, the mid- 
dling class of ppo])le of Ameri( a." 

They further represent the four travellers, of whose 
works they were giving an account, as making extensive tours 
in every j)art of Amdica, as weil in Ihe old as in the new set- 
tlements ; ♦♦ and,'' say they ♦• generally sjjeakiiig, we shoiihl 
fiay their testimony is in linoiir of American manneis. Wc 
must ex((pt, perhaps, Mr. Feaion ; and yet he seems to have 
very little to say agi'inst them." 

I have deemed it necessary to make these, and shall make 
Anther exliacts, to ])rove, that 1 have not unjustly, or without 
cause, charged the write r, wln.m I have undertaken to i-efute, 
with intenlionaily mis-i-ejMTsenting. the language of the Edin- 
burgh lieviewers, and with ascribing to them, feelings and 
seniinn-nts towards th«' »♦ American People*' which they lunc 
never expressed oj- manifested; which the dullest reader couhl 
not infer from tl.cir language; and which no writei-, but one 
tltteni.ined to viliif^, could Inne (he front to lay to their charge. 



13 . 

The assumed indWfoi'cnce, with wiiic h iic charjjfos tlic Re- 
viewers with •* levity," ill spcakiniuj olthe •• Amcriciiti kiiii; ;" 
and of" the price Tor which, in this countt-y, \\v hircom- Li- 
verpools, Sidinoiitlis and Crokers," may pass witli such rea- 
ders as attend to but one side of tiie controversy ; l)u(, those, 
who read the Review for themselves, as well as titis wiiler's 
perverted, mutilated extracts, will easily discover, throut:;!! 
his cloak of seemini? indifference, and cx])rcssed intention to 
«' let all these things pass," a deep and nnworthy desi.^n, in 
the outset of his pamphlet, to prepossess the Aniericati people 
with an impression, that the Reviewers had treated them and 
their government with ridicule and contempt. To refute this 
imputation, as contemptible as it is unfounded. 1 shallletthe 
Reviewers speak for themselves ; and must pity that man's 
discerning faculties, who cannot see— and (k'test the baseness 
of him, who, seeing, misrepresents and denies, tliat the edge 
of satire (if satire it can be called) is directed solely against 
the empty parade, the extravagant expendituie, and exorbi- 
tant (and to the people) opi)ressive salaries of the Briiish Go- 
vernment ; and that the contrast here drawn between t!ie jiay 
of the high official charactei's in the one country, and those in 
the other, is intended as a true encomium on the frugality and 
economy, and at the same time, elHciency of tiie Amei-ican 
Government. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the 
Reviewers were addressing a British public, and thei-efore, in 
contrasting the comparative expenses of tiie two governments, 
they spoke of particular public stations by the names of parti- 
cular individuals, wlio, in England, were known to fill those 
stations. " One of the girat ad\ antages," say the Re\ iewers, 
*' of the American Government, is its cheapness. The Ameri- 
can king has about 50001. per annum, the vice-king lOOOl. 
They hire their Lord Liverpool at about lOOOl. per annum, 
and their Lord Sidmoutii (a good bargain) at the same sum, 
Their Mr. Crokers," (secretaries of the Navy.) »* are inex- 
pressibly reasonable. Somewhere about tlie price of an Eng- 
lish door-keeper," (of Parliament, or at court ceremonies,) 
"or bearer of a mace. Life, however, seems to go on very 
well, in spite of these low salaries, and the purposes of Gov- 
ernment to be fairly answei'ed." 

The extracts introduced by the Reviewers from Mi-. Hall 
and Mr. Fearon, certainly convey very different feelings from 
those of levity or contempt ; and the introduction of them, 
displays the veneration in which the Reviewers hold a stati<Mi 
" higher than that of kings." " Mr. Hall made him (Mr. 
Jefterson) a visit :" 

" I slept anight at Monticello, and left it in the nir)riiing, 
with such a feeling as the traveller quits the mouldering re- 
mains of a Grecian temple, or the pilgrim a fountain in the de- 



14. 

sort. It would indeed ari^we threat torpor, both of under- 
standing and heai-t, to lia\ e looked without veneration and 
interest, on the man who drew up the declaration of Amer- 
ican Independence ; who shared in the councils by which her 
Ircedom was estal)lished, wiiom the unb(>u,s;ht voice of his fel- 
low-citizens called to the exercise of a dignity, from which his 
own moderatioji imjielled him, when such example was most 
salutary, to witiidraw; and who. while he dedicates the even- 
ing of his glorious daysto the pursuits of science and literature, 
slums none oitiu' humbler duties of private life ; but, having 
filled a seat, higher than that of kings, succeeds, with graceful 
dignity, to that of good neighbor, arid becomes the friendly ad- 
viser, lawyer, ])hysician. and even gardener, of his vicinity. 
This is the ' still small voice* of philosophy, deeper and holier 
than the ligbtnings and earthquakes which have preceded it. 
What monarch would venture thus to exhibit himself in the 
nakedness of humanity ? On what royal brow would the laurel 
replace the diadem" 

" Mr. Fearon dined with another of the ex-kings, Mr. 
Adams.'* The exti'act giveti by the Reviewers, after pass- 
ing some encomiums on the jjcrsons and hospitality of Mr. A. 
andhis lady ; and after describing the plain, but good and 
plentiful viands which crowned the board, thus concludes : 

«< The establislMuentofthispolitical patriarch, consist of a 
house two stories high, containing, I believe, eight rooms : 
of two men and tliree maid servants ; three horses and a plain 
carriage. How great is the contrast between this individual — 
a man of knowledge and information — without pomp, parade, 
or vicious and expensixe establishments, as compared with 
the costly trap])ings, the depraved characters, and the profli- 
gate expenditure of house and ! What a 

lesson, in t/iis, does America teach ! There are now in this 
land, no less than three Cincinati !" 

The same injustice has been done to the Reviewer's remarks 
on slavery ,• the same pcrvci-tion of design has been resorted 
to ; the same mutilation of their sentences ; the same miscon- 
struction of theii' words. This writer has ransacked different 
paragraplis for epithets, torn them from the connexiojjs in 
which tlicy stood, mixed them with words of his own, brought 
them together as so many clauses of one sentence, without a 
single period point to separate them, as if the Reviewers had 
pronounced them all in one breath, leaving the reader entire- 
ly in the dark respecting their original connexion, or the re- 
lation of ciirumstances which occasioned the using of them — 
ciicumstances to which they were apjdied, and to wdiich, even 
this writer, with all his delicacy and professed patriotism, can- 
not say, they do not justly apply. It shall, however, be my 
busi)iess to exhibit both sides to the public ; and after , stating 
what this wiiter says, I will lay before the American pnhlic, 



15 

the l-einarks of the Revievvei's on slavery, with tlic extracts 
they have given, in the order and connexion in which they 
have written them, leaving the unbiassed and discerning to 
judge between him and them. 

Addressing tlje Reviewers, he says', '"You undertake to rc- 
presejit the character of my country, as dishonoured and de- 
graded by a *' foul stain" — by <* an atrocious crime" — by 
<• feelings and practices amounting to the * consummation of 
all wickedness,' and my countrymen themselves as, « scourgers 
and murderers of slaves.' and beneath * the least and lowest 
of the European nations." 

Now let the Reviewers appear in their own dress, and 
let this <* Virginian," who declares himself a slave holder; or, 
to use his own words, " a jfdrticipator in that c?-i7He," either 
disprove the facts related, or prove that tbe epithets are not ap- 
plicable to the cruelties, legalUf sanctioned cruelties^ and mur- 
ders to which the reviewers allude : 

" The great curse of America is the institution of slavery 
— of itself far more than the foulest blot upon their national 
character, and an evil which counterbalances all the excise- 
men, licensers, and tax-gatherers of England. No virtuous 
man ought to trust his own character, or the character of his 
children, to the demoralizing effects produced by commanding 
slaves. Justice, gentleness, pity, and humility, soon give way 
before them. Conscience suspends its functions. The love 
of Command — the impatience of restraint, get the better of 
every other feeling ; and cruelty has no other limit than fear.'* 

The Reviewers then introduce the following extracts from 
Mr. Jefterson : — " There must, doubtless, (says Mr. Jefferson) 
be an unhappy influence on the manners of the people, pro- 
duced by the existence of slavery amongst us. The whole 
commerce between master and slave, is a perpetual exercise 
of the most boisterous passions ; the most unremitting despo- 
tism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. 
Our children see this, and learn to imitate it : for man is an 
imitative animal. The parent storms, the child looks on, 
catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in 
the circle of smaller slaves ; gives loose to the worst of pas- 
sions; and thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in ty- 
ranny, cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. 
The man must be a prodigy who can retain his morals and 
manners undepraved by such circumstances." Notes, p. 241. 

*' The following picture," continue the Reviewet's : '< of a 
slave song is quoted by Mr. Hall from the Letters on Virgit.:d i 

" I took the boat this morning, and crossed tlie?ferry over 
to Portsmouth, the small town which I told you is opposite 
to this place. It was court day, and a large crowd of people 
was gathered about the court-house. I had hardly got upon 
the steps to look in, when my ears were assailed by the voice 



Hi 

ut siiiLciii;^ : :u)(I Ini'iiiii!;' i'«)u;i(i to discover iVom \\liat (juarter 
ilcHiiH', I s;iw 11 .i;-i-(>u|) (»}' :i!>oiit (iiii-ty lici^i-ocs. of (liirereiit 
si'Zt's :in«i ;i.i;c.s. f(»ll(>\viiijj;' u n)iit;li iookiiii^ wliite niati, \vl)o sat 
. :ur|<s'-i;, l(»I!iii!:^ ill liis sulky, llicv liad just turned round 
the (Oilier, and were cbiiiin.';- up tlic inaifi-street to pass hy 
llie spoL nluMf I stood, on their way out of tcnvn. As they 
cai\i< ncistcr I saw some of them loaded with chains to prevent 
their escajje; whi!<> others had iiohl of each other's liands, 
stron.i!;!y i!,ijisped. as if to siipjiort tliemselves in their affliction. 
I ])arii,iilurly noticed a poor toother, with an ini'aut sucking 
at. \ivi liciitst as she walked aioiii'-, while two small children 
liad hold «)f hei- apron on either side, almost runninsi; to keep 
up \vith the rest They came aloiii^ sin.^'ing a little wild hymn, 
ot sweet and mouriif'il melody, iiyiii^-, by a divine instinet of 
the heart, to the consolation of rclij^ion, the last refui2;e of the 
iiniiaj)py, to siipj)ort them in their distress. The sulky now 
stopjjcd het'ore the tavern, at a little distance l)C}'ond the court- 
house, and th(! ttriver )2;ot out. ♦• My dear Sii'," said I to a 
])ers(m who stood near me, "can you tell me what tliese poor 
people have been (Unti.u; ? What is theii- crime ? And what is 
to he their poinshmeiit ? (), said he, it is notiiii:g at all, but a 
jsarcel of iir.j;iocs sold to Carolina: and that man is tlieir 
driver, who has hou.a;ht them. But what have they done, that 
they should he s.)Id into banislitnent? Done, said he, notliing 
at ail that I know of :rheir masters wanted money, I suppose, 
and these drix crs g-ive nfood pi'ices. — Here the (lri\ er bavins^ 
supplied himseirwith brandy, and his horse with water, (the 
j)oor iH'n'i'oes of course wanted nothiiiii^.) steii]>ed into his chair 
a.i::aii), cracked his whip, and drove on, while tlic miserable 
exiles lollowi-d in funei-al procession behind him." 

TJie Reviewers continue. »' T!ie law by which slaves are 
jsrovei-ned in the Carolinas is a pro\ incial law, as old as 1740, 
but made jierptMtial in ir«.3. By tliislaw it is enacted, that 
every nepjro slndl be presumed a slave, unless the contrary 
apj)»'ar. The nintli clause allows two Justices of the Peace, 
and three freeholdei's. porvcr to put them to any manner oj death : 
the evidence ap;ainst them may be without oath. No slave is 
to traHic on his own account. Any person murdering a slave 
is to pay tool, or 14l. if he cuts out the to'-'i^ne of a stare. Any 
ivhitc man meetiin; seven sla\ !\s toi^etheron a hii:;h road, may 
i^ive them tu-cniy lashes each. No man must icnck a slave to 
write, uiider penalty of lOOl. curi-ency. We have Mr. Hall's 
fluthorify for tlie existence and enforcement of this law at the 
l)re • Jit day. Mr. Fearon has recorded some facts still more 
instriictix (^ : 

»'Obsei\ in;; a threat many coloured jjeople, particularly 
females, in these boats, 1 concluded that they were emigrants, 
who hud prrtcee<led tb'.is for on their rout tc.wards a settlement. 
The fact pn.vrd (r> he, that fourteen (dtlie ilat> 



17 

witli Imman beings Ibr sale. They had been collected in the 
several states by slave-dealers, and shipped from KentiK ky 
for a market. They were dressed up to the Ijest advantage, 
on tir' same principle that jockeys do horses upon sale : (an 
advertisement from Mr. Fearon is here introduced ; tlien fol- 
lows another extract from tlie same.) 

<^ 'IMie three * Afi'ican Churches,' as they are called, arc 
for all th !se native Americans who are black, or have any 
shade of colour, dai'ker than w bite. I'liese ])ersons, though 
many of them are possessed of the rights of citizensliip, are 
not adsnitfed into the churclics visited by wliites. There ex- 
ists a penal law, deepivrilttn. in the minds of the whole white 
population, which subjects their coloured fellow-citizens to 
uncouilitional contumely, and never-ceasing insult. ^No re- 
spectability, however unquestionable, — no property, however 
large, — no clsaracter, however, unblemished, will gain a man, 
whose body is (in American estimation,) cursed with eveti a 
twentieth j)Oi'tion of Ww ijjood of !iis African ancestry, adnjis- 
sion into society ! ! ! They are considered as mere pariahs — 
as outcasts aud vags-ants upon tiie face of the earth ! 1 make 
no reflection upon these things, but leave the facts for your 
consideration." Fcaran. 

The Reviewers then proceed thus, 

" That such feelings and such j)ractices siiould exist 
among men who know the \ alue of liberty, and profess to 
understand its principles, is<he consummation of wickedness. 
Every American who loves his country, should dedicate his 
wiiolc life, and every faculty of his soul, to efface this foul 
stain from its character ! 11 nations rank according to their 
wisdom and their virtue, w hat light has the American, a 
scourger and murderer of slaves, to compare himself with the 
least and lowest of tiie European natioiis? — much more with 
tliis great and humane country, where the gj-eatest lord dare 
not lay a finger on the meanest peasant? What is freedom, 
where all ai e not free : where the greatest of God's blessings 
are limited, with impious caprice, to the colour of the body r 
And these arc the men who taunt the English with their cor- 
rupt Parliament, with their buying and selling votes. Let 
the world judge wduch is the most liable to censure — ^Ve Avhc, 
in the midst of our rottenness, have torn off the manacles of 
slaves all over the world ; — or they who, with their idle puri- 
ty, and useless pcj t^Mtion, liave remained mute and careless, 
wdiile groans echoed and whips clank'd round ti:e very walls 
of their spotless Congress. We wish Vrcil to America — we 
rejoice in her j>rosperity — :ind are dcHgiited to resist the ab- 
surd impertinence witii which tlic character of her people is 
often treated in this country. But the cxistcjicc of slavery 
in America is an atrocious crime, with wliich no measures 
i'-Aw be kept — for which her frituation aff.)rds r»o sort of aimlo- 



18 

gy — wliicli makes libeily itself distrusted, and the boast ol it 
disgust! vii^.'* 

Havina; given these extracts, I shall, before I enter upon 
a critical examination of them, give another proof of the un- 
fair conduct of the Author of the *' Letter to the Edinburgh 
Reviewers.'* I have before charged him, not only with wilful 
perversion of the Reviewers' language ; but likewise with com- 
piling sentences, of words torn from tlieir respective connexions, 
and marking tliem with quotation marks, as though they were 
literally and correctly quoted from the Review, in the form and 
order in whicli they occur in that work : And 1 again charge 
him with the same dishonorable conduct. At page 50, he has 
the folh>wing j)retended extract, " Wickedness, with which 
no measures are to be kept." And at page 28, " The least 
and lowest in rank and character," a)id in various other 
places he has taken tlie same unwarrantable liberty — I ask 
this writer whether, in the face of this charge, he dare come 
before the i)u!)lir, and say he has acted fairly and justly to- 
wards the Iie\ iewers ? Dare he assert, that those sentences 
and many others, which he has marked as quotations, were 
in the form in which he has given them, used by the Re- 
viewers? lie dares not. How then did he dare, in his pamphlet, 
to eome before the American public with an untruth in his 
mouth ? How dare he thus to insult the American public, and 
treat them as a ci-edulous people, w hich might be imposed upoir 
at the pleasure of any crafty designing writer ? What literary 
man of honour and integrity would do this ? Is it possible that 
he could jjcrsuade himself, that no reader would be found, 
who would compare his garbled extracts with the originals 
from whence he tore them ? — What credit are we to give, to 
tiiQ professed jjurity of motive and proclaimed ])atriotism of a 
writer, who thus detaches the words of an opponent from their 
respective connexions and sentences, and with these broken 
materials, manufacture a sentence, to answer his own purpose ; 
and then, by his quotation marks, tell the public, that he has 
given it Just as he found it in its original form and state : 
There is alw ays cause to suspect that writer's motives, who 
wilfully perverts, mistates, and mis(|uotes tiic language of 
those against w hom he writes It is a maxim, as true in the 
literary, as in tlie j)oliti( al world, that he who is vol just to 
an eneraif, will uot he true to ids own Country, any fui-ther than 
his own interest is concerned. <' The Yii-ginian" writer may 
make \\hat ajjplications of this he please: for my own part, 
I do not hesitate to exjjress my conviction — a conviction, pro- 
duced by his unfair and unjust conduct towards the Review- 
ers, that if himseir had not been a slave-holder, " a ])arlicipa- 
tor in that crime" and conuectcd with a family belonging to 
one of the. slave-holding states,'' and '< who are' themselves the 
owners of slaves ;'^ his Letter to the E. Reviewers would not 



19 

have appeared : but tlieir reniaiks on slavery, niiglit have been 
** read from the Ganges to the Missouri'' without his feeling 
any concern. — But I come now to a critical examination of 
their remarks, as contained in the extracts already given. 

<* The institution of slavery — of itself far more than the 
foulest blot on their national character." Let the reader keep 
in mind the narrative given of the existence and practical ope- 
ration of an internal slave trade, with all the liorrors oijami- 
lies dismembered and forever separated — of t!ie '< atrocious'' 
Law in the Carolinas, which makes the murder of a slave, no 
greater crime than the teaching him to ivriie : and the cutting 
out of the tongue of a slave, avery trifling oficMcc ; nearly on an 
equality with keeping a dog without a license; — together with 
the other cruelties authorized by that Law ; the still existence 
of which, the « Virginian" does not attem})t to deny 5 let the 
reader, I say, keep these things in mind, and I am sure he 
will, with the Reviewers, think the existence of slavery^ a foul 
blot on the national character ; and I ask this writer, whether, 
under f/tis view of it, he will say it is no blot? or whether he 
can point out any other blot on the character of this country, 
which equals, or wliicli can bear any comparison with it ? If 
he cannot, then the Reviewers are correct ; for tiiey only 
compared it with other blots, if blots there be, on the national 
character of this country, and pronounced it, " of itself far 
more than the foulest" of them all. 

This in the principal epithet in their first paragraph on 
slavery. — They indeed call it a «< curse ;" and tlieir opponent 
admits it to be one— They speak also of its demoralizing 
influence, this I shall attend to hereafter. At present, I have 
to do with the epithets, and to what they are applied : I 
must therefore pass on to the last paragraph of their remarks 
on slavery. And here it is evident to every discerning rea- 
der, and must have been evident to our <' Virginian" writer, 
that the remarks were made, in consequence of, and applie(t 
to, what is related in the extracts which preceded them. And 
the epithets which that paragraph contains, are directly ap- 
plied to those practises and statutes tiicre recited : for they 
immediately remark, with sentiments of grief and honest in- 
dignation ; " That such feelings and such sentiments should 
exist among men who know the value of liberty, and profess to 
understand its principles, is the consummation of wickedness," 
and they then make that appeal to " every American wholoves 
his country," which I before recited. — " Such feelings" Such 
practices." What feelings and what practices arc here in- 
tended ? To what docs the word " Such" relate ? What are 
its antecedents ? Has our honest defender of slavery attended 
to this, when he collected and jumbled t!ic epithets together ? 
No ; he has given us no intimation of any connexion between 
those epithets and the circnmstances related ; he well kncw^ 



^^0 

tliat so doiiii^Nvould Ii;ivc (It-iViili-il Iiis own end : :iii(i. instead 
of roiivincins; tbc Anirrican jjeoplo. that the Rrviewej-.s liad 
*' insulted and abused" them ; it woidd have blunted the edt^e 
of his attack, and convinced the public, that he was abusirija: 
the Reviewers. 

This *' Viri^inian" writer could not ))ossiI)lY read the Jlc- 
view without feelinj^ convinced, and everij leader of tlie Re- 
view must he convinced, that by the terms, •' such fceling-s 
and such practices," the Reviewers intended, those things 
Avhicli were related in the extiacts which they had just 
given, viz. the abominable, inkrnal traffic in slaves, the sell- 
ing them, and the conveying t)t'the:n to be re-sold in droves.. 
chained together, like cattle i'vum one place to anoilu-r, and 
from one state : one sovereigv, independent slate, to anothci* 
sovereign, independent ntute, ea( h of which possesses the ]»ow(t 
of abt)lishing such traffic, and such introduction or removal, 
respectively — the cruel scoui'ging of slaves so commonly 
])ractise(l, and that undei' the sanction of the Laws, which 
permit, not only the owner, but even a stranger, who meets 
seven men of colour on the high\^ ay, to inflict it on each of 
them — the cruel mangling of slaves, which the Law does not 
prohibit effectually, and wliirji is too often practised. The 
murder of slaves, which often lia}>pens, and the perpetrators 
escape with impunity, or with only paying a paltry fine — 
that impious pride ; that arrogant, unchristian feeling, 
Avhich obtrudes itself into the very temple of God, against 
which the sanctuary of the most high is not proof, and to which 
the worship of tlie di'ead Etei-nal presents no bai'?'ier ; btit, 
under the influence of such feelings, the hypocritical devotee, 
separates from his brother worm of the earth, becaiise his skin 
is not tlie col i:r of his own, and, in the haughtiness of his 
heart, directs him, eitliei* to anotlier distinct building, or to 
a completely distinct, separate j)art of the same building; 
exclaiming, by his condu( t and caii-iage, '* Stand by thyself, 
come not near to me ; for I am holier than thou." AjuI con- 
cerning which, the Lord hath declared «• These are a smoke 
in my nose, a fire that burnetii all the day" and against whom 
lie has threatened *< I will not keep silence, but will recom- 
pense, even recompense into their bosom." Every reader 
of the Review, I repeat it, must admit that it was under the 
impressions, the Itoi-rible impressions, made by these facts, 
that tlie Reviewers denounced the existence of "such feelings 
and such practices among mvn enjoying more real liberty than 
any other jieople on tlie glolie, as " the consummation of 
wickedness:" and that persons who arc guilty, either of 
jiractising these things themsehes, or of sanctioning them in 
others, ai'e <* Scourgers and mui'dereis of slaves :" for it 
would be childish to contend, that heating ov vhiping is mA 
seoiirginc: ; or tliat /://,■/.";'• is not ninrder. And as llicse wiio 



21 , 

allow these things, share in the ci-iuie and i^uilt, the epitlietH 
will apply to ail who do not use cvei'\ iiieans i:: tiieii* powci- to 
prevent such enormities. And surely it will he admitted, 
that any '< American," w!io is " a scoui-ger and nuirderer of 
slaves'' is as low as any character, in any nation wliateve)-, 
and it is to such characters that the Re\ iewers address tiiem- 
selves when they ask, what ri,a,ht he. a " scourger and mi;r- 
dei'er of slaves,'' has <• to compare hiuiselt witli the least and 
lowest, kc. 

That the atrocious law in the Carolinas, is still in exis- 
tence, our Virginian defender of slavery does not deny ; and for 
the enforcement thereof, even in the present day, we have Mr. 
Hall's testimony ; wliicli testimony, this wi-iter has not dared 
to controvert — That the statements, given in the Review, are 
notexaggei-ated, hut that. e\en greater cruelties are still prac- 
tised : and that slavery exists in a mo)-e hoirihle shape, and 
to a more enormous degree, than the Reviewers have describ- 
ed ; and remain as a stain, the foulest of the foul, not only on 
the slaveliohlei's, hut also on the i-espective governments of the 
slave States ; and even attach! s itself, in too great a degree, 
to the general governnsent of the United States, it is now my 
painful duty to demonstate — I say pah fid; for he wlio can 
read what i shall relate, asnl not heave a sigh and feel a jiang, 
however he may have heen fansiiiaiized to such things, must 
be in a very diircrent frame of n)in(i fi'om vhat I an) in, v.hile I 
pen them. Painful however as the task may he, duty impels 
me to perform it ; and if tlic recital do but lead to the curtail- 
ing of some of the miseries of this despised and oj>pi-essed 
branch of the human family, by calling the attenlTon ofthosc 
to t!ie sn!>ject, who are known to *» have ])owir to save," at 
least in fids district; and if, in any measure, it should stimulate 
them to <* raise their strong hand '' and to lop off some of the 
branches of their hard treatment, I shall have my reward. 

Our Virginian v.i-iter, having given pa^e 43, an extract 
from a Clei-gyman's account of his tour t'lrough South Caro- 
lina, is desirous (according to his note at the foot of the page) 
that it should he considered as a refutation, of what jMr. Fea- 
ron had said, respecting the non-admission of fiee blacks 
among whites, into places of worship. I cannot however suf- 
fer him to triumph, or to shout victory in this instance : nor 
can I admit, that this writer himself, thought it a refutation. He 
must have known, what no vfsident in the slave States can be 
a stranger to, Tf;^.- That Mr. Feai-on's renmrks on tliat head, 
are, when generally applied, strictly correct. \Vhere, in the 
slave States, is there a church of any religious denomination 
(I do not include the Quakers) in which whites and coloured 
people meet on an equality in tiie })resence of theii- c(Mnmou 
Father, and mingle together as his tqxial children ? In inosi 
great towns and cities, there f.i'c distinet, sejtaiate clmrclies 



2S 

lor lliem : and where tliorc arc not, tlie cliiii'chcs are general- 
ly so divided into parts, that the peojjle of colour ai'c com- 
pletely excluded iVoiii the whites, and have a separate way of 
cnterint? the place : not bein.:;^ snlTered to enter or depart the 
same way as the rest ; and even the extract from tlie cleri^y- 
man's tour mentions <' j)Iaces in the chuirh set apart for 
them." In t!iis disti'ict (Columbia.) the odious distinction is 
jn full force, and very i;eniM"al. In this district. I say, the 
seat of tiie i:;eneral i';overnin(M>t. the only ti-act in the Union 
■wliich the Constitution iias placed scdely under the a;overnment 
of Con2;ress. In tliis district, there are places of worship ap- 
j)ropriated to peojde of colour, and there are others, from 
which they are totally excluded ; and, in almost all the 
rhnrches, belou.^^in.^ to the difTercnt relii^ious denominations, 
they aiT completely separated fi'om the whites. The colored 
people feel, deeply feel, this dei^radation. I was myself much 
])ained one day last summer with an instance of the humiliat- 
ing state, to which they are reduced. It was about the middle 
of a week, when a free man of colour, a -proprietor nf houses and 
land; aiid who was well known to be in respectable circnm- 
staiices ; but who had tlie misfortune to have his skin a little 
tainted with the blood of liis Afi'icaji ancesti*y, called on me at 
my house, and addressed me, in substance, as follows. 

*< Sir, I hope you will pardon my ])i'esumption, but I have 
heard that yon ai'e frieiuiiy to our ])eople, and that you con- 
sider us, and men of your own colour, as all equal in t!ie sight 
of God ; I have therefore a desire, sometimes to attend on 
your preaching, if you tliink it can be allowed; I however, 
cmM not tliink o^ insulting, either you or your congregation, 
()y coming inio your place luitlwnt your hare, as I understand 
you have no part set aside for us in particular ; but if you can 
grant me permission, to sit or stand by tlie side oj one nf the 
tvalls. it will give me great pleasure ', and I promise yon, I 
will keep as nuu !i apart from the congregation as j)ossil)le." 

<* Good God " said I to myself ♦' is this the situation, to 
which worms of tiie eaith reduce their fellow worms ?"' How 
dwells the love of God in such ?" — And yet, the situation in 
which this man felt hims<'lf, notwit!:standing his property, is 
the \ei'y situation, in which, all the people of colour feel them- 
selves, wliethe!* they he '^ bond or free,-* rich or poor, moral 
or immoial ; and as this writer (( onnected as he is) can be 
no stranger to the state of this district, let him come forward, 
and disj)ro\e Vvhat I say if he can ; let him |)oijit out, ichat 
places of worsliip, through the wholedislrict^whereivhiles attend, 
are fi-eelVom those odious distinctions and excl;!Sions. Is it the 
case with the church facing the President's house, called St. 
.fohirs? Let hima.Iso prove, by citing cases, that "respectability 
lM>we\er u!i((uestionable." — " properly, however large'' — or 
•■• ( haractei-, Itowever Uiiblemished.*' will gain a man. whose 



23 

body is ^in American estimation) cursed with even a twen- 
tieth portion of the bh)od of his African ancestry, admission 
into society." This writer canjiot do this. He knows that 
such odious distinctions exist. lie, and the American people 
know, how deeply those feeliu.a;s ar.c rooted. They know, 
that tliey cari-y them with them into the house of God, and 
even to tlie foot of Iiis awful throne. Would to God they 
would there recollect those feelin^^s, with that compunction, 
contrition, and se^-ahhorrence, which hecomc vile, sinful crea- 
tures, whc'i they approach and address the great, crpial Father 
of all, ^^ho " is no respecter of persons." 

The slave system, in tiiis country, is of that dark and op- 
pressive nature, that it is very difficult, at all times, to brins; 
to le.i^al light, the works of darkness and villany which it em- 
braces and pi'oduces. There are many cruelties exercised up- 
on the poor slaves — many inhuman scourgings and horrid 
murders perpetrated, without such atrocities being generally 
known, or coming fairly and fully before the public ; and if 
known publicly, without the perjietratoi's being brought to 
punishment ; even, where the law has made it criminal. 
From the situations in which the slave laws have placed the 
owners and slaves respectively, this must necessarily be the 
case. The owrjer of slaves, as a late writer remarks, is, 
within his j)Iantation or on his estate, an absolute sovereign. 
He possesses more power than the most despotic of kings. 
He can punish at pleasure ; and if, in some cases, restricted by 
laws, as to the number of stripes that may be inflicted at one 
time; who can prevent his repeating the same, uudei* any 
frivolous pretence, the next day or even the next hour? or 
who can prevent his violating the ])rovisions of the law in 
that respect ? Generally, the slaves are punished at the 
will of their owner or overseer, as ])assion or caprice may 
dictate ; and if whipped to death, which often happens, or mur- 
dered in any other wa} , when )ione but sla\ es, or the instru- 
ments of his cruelty are present, who is to be evidence against 
the murderer ? for though an hundred slaves may witness the 
" foul " deed, not one of them can be admitted an evidence iti 
a court of Justice ; slaves being l)y law disiiualified fr(»m mak- 
ing oatli or bearing legal testimony, in any case whatever. 
But notwithstanding all these dilliculties, enough has trans- 
pired ; enough is publicly kimwn. and enough has been sul)- 
stantiated, to mark the slave system, as a system of crime, of 
rioknce and of blood, and to prove that scourging (uid murder^ 
cruelty and rice, are its too prominent foatures. 

lit is not necessary to crowd tlie.se jiages, with a niu^lijilic- 
ity of cases, in ju-oof of my assertions, as 1 iuay probably, at no 
very distant time, give to the public and t!ie wojld, a cir- 
cumstantial history of American slavery, with a detail of the 
various cruelties, crimes, and rices, which have marked its 
progress, from its iutroductigA down t9 the present day : 



;21 

SufFi(e it for tlie, present, tliat I insert such evidence as will 
juslifv tlic Reviewers in the indij^nant tone in which they ex- 
pressed tlioniselves ; i-elnte our Viri;;i;iian"s atteujpt to justify 
the system, and impress the reader, with the odiousness of 
its fealurts, and the injustice and cruelty that is interwoscn 
with it — 1 will hej;! II with the Caroliiias — Tlie seat of slavery, 
and accordin.^- to the \'irginian w i-iter, the residence of slave- 
holdei's, (listin.i^uished for their Junnanitij, morality, and reli- 
gions conduct. 

In those states, it is not nnromnion to brand their slaves. 
This the gentleman may call humane, moral anLVrdigums if he 
jilease : perhaps he may attem]>t Uijndifi) it from sucrtd saip- 
ture, and tell us, tliat of this, «• no .'ire'ct notice is taken hy 
the founder of the Christian religion" and then triumphantly 
demand ; '< What! do tlic Chi'istians of the j)resent day pre- 
tend to he wiser than God Almighty — more merciful than 
Christ — moi-e humane, more pious, more conscientious, nr>rc 
moral, than the Apostles! I.et them hcware ! Let them not 
consider their erri)ig humanitif, as a hettei' guide than their 
religion !" Or perhajjs he may be disposed to deny the exis- 
tence of this cruelty. From such denial, I will appeal to the 
evidence of the Chnrleston Newspaper, where, in the slave 
advei-tisemcnts, such phrases as •' lie has my brand on him ;'* 
or '• lie is marked with my bi-and" fretpicntly occur. But 
the •' selection of South Candina" (or both the Carolinas) 
•« was unfortunate for your" (the lle\iewers) <• theory of 
moi-als." Let us however state a fact respecting each in ad- 
dition to that already stated, aiid then see how far the Review- 
ers were *' unfortunate in their selections :" and how fai' the 
Old Law still serves as a protection for cruelty and niurdLr. 
It stands on record, and now lieshefoi-c me. tiiat in North Ca- 
i-olina, about three or i'ouv years I'.eforc the Reviewers made 
fliose remarks, which so much alarmed our Yirginiaji : a 
slave was flogged to deaili while U\s owner stood looking on, 
enjoying the siglit ; and himself not satisfied wit!i tiie tool of 
his tyi-aiDiy relinquisliing the task, as he thought too soon, was 
about succeeding him in this work of hnmamhj, moral'dij, and 
religion, when he discovered, tiiat death had snatched his vic- 
tim from his tormentors. So far the i*ecord oi' this cruelty: 
hut where is the record of the perpetrators of it, thing pun is li- 
ed ? Where is the account of- bltwdfov tdood ?" Hush ! whis- 
per not that inrpiiry ! Bri'iuiie Jiot an interrogatory which 
would imply, <tv " rejjresent the cjiaracler of my country as 
dis!ioi!ored and de<ri-adi>d l)y a foul stain — by an atrocious 
crime!'' — This however was in Aorth, not South Carolina — 
well, what of South Carf)lina? What ! why enough to jiistily 
the iteviewers, and ought to have been enougli to have si- 
lenced their opponent on that head. 

'I'he instance of ci-uelty I am about to give, was publish- 
**<! in the Charleston Courier, of June 5, 1819. It was per- 



25 

petrated in May last ; consequently, ^re months after the Re- 
view was published. It was sent to the Charleston paper for 
insertion, by Mr. Faux, a gentleman with whom I am well ac- 
quainted, and from whose lips I have received a confirmation 
of the account, with its horrible particulars. Mr. F. is a gen- 
tleman, who, in England, was ever ready to denounce West 
Indian Slavery ; who raised his voice against the corruptions 
of the British Government; who was never blind to the op- 
pression of his countrymen; nor backward in protesting 
against it ; who came to this country, to use his own expres- 
sion, •' with every fond prejudice and predeliction" — to ** A- 
merica the land of his adored Washington" — " an asylum for 
the distressed and oppressed of all other lands." — From a 
gentleman who came out with these prepossessions in favour 
of this country, was the following account sent to the public 
Journal. He states, that on his way to that City, from a tour 
through the interior of tlie state, 20 miles west of Columbia, 
he was suddenly attracted to a spot of earth, over which a 
respectable company of citizens were deeply intent, on wit- 
nessing the exhumation of a Negro, whom, one Kelly, his 
owner, and three others, had tied to a tree at midnight, and 
each, in turn, continued to whip till sun rise, when, from in- 
cessant lashing, his bowels gushed out, and he expired, and 
was instantly buried in a private corner, on May 23d. Mr. 
F's Letter gave such publicity to this atrocious act, that some 
noise and some inquiry was made : but the issue of that inqui- 
ry is nof ?)mde ptfi/ic. And I challenge this writer to prove, 
that Kelly and his accomplices were treated and punished as 
murderers. 

But " it well becomes" us « and every friend of justice, 
to hear and to know," that the writer, whom I undertake to 
refute, « is a Virginian," and may, in reply say " I speak 
now for Virginia only." Well, let him retreat from Carolina 
in the best order he can ; and I will pursue him into his own 
immaculate state. 

The following extracts are copied from the public prints 
of June 1818. 

" In Augusta county, Virginia, a man sometime since, 
took a coloured Boy, about 17 years of age, his slave, for the 
most trifling offence, bound him across a barrel, and scourged 
him until his life appeared extinguished ; after lingering a 
few hours, he was buried in a hole under a fence in the field ; 
no notice was taken of the murder, and the JSTcgro Killer, re- 
tained his ;;)AWic o^ce." 

'< A slave ranaway from a man in Augusta county, Vir- 
ginia ; he was pursued and caught ; the man tied the slave to 
a beam in an old out-house, and flogged him with a large 
waggon whip, until two physicians, who had been told of the 
circumstance, entered, and assured the slave tyrant, that a 
4 



S6 

few more strokes would extiiij^uish bis life ; in this situatiou, 
alter being reb-asetl, be was driven more than 20 miles, to the 
slK\e-b()lder*s pJantatioii." . 

" A man in Towbatan County, Virijinia, laid bis slave 
aci'oss a fence, on a Couit-day, near tbe Court House j 
balanced bini by one rock tied to bis neck ajid anotber to bis 
f'et. Ill this situation be battered bini to deatb. Tbe Ne2;ro 
Killer, thoui^b it was done befoi-c tiie county assembled, re- 
ceived no other animadversion that a volley of oatbs." 

I have selected tlte fo!'e,2;{>ii!g instances of cr'ielty, which 
liave alirady been before tbe jjublic. in preference to new cases; 
tbey having been well substantiated ; but they are by no means 
singulai" cases. Such things so frequently occur, that it would 
not be difficult to produce a long catalogue of them, with 
dates, names, places, and well authenticated testimonies, in 
proof of tlieir reality ; and this will be done, should such cata- 
logue be called for by tlie system sujjporters. Indeed so many cru- 
elties bavebeeji exercised on tbe Negroes ; so many instances 
of bard tieattnent; of injustice and inhumanity have occured, 
and can be clearly and fully substantiated, that v.cre all re- 
corded wbi( b have taken place in the United States, such re- 
cords would cover a large poition of the state of Virginia. 

This writer ex|)atiates upon tbe humane ti-eatment of 
slaves, and talks of their comforts, their fishing tackle, game 
traj)s. dogs, &c. But m hat are the comforts of tbe far greater 
])ai't of them, even in Virginia? Arc tbey not ser^ed with 
food of tbe coarsest quality, just as if they were horses or 
other brute animals; and in quantity, just sufficient to ])re- 
serve life and prepare tlieiii for labour ? I'he leading maxim 
being to ascertain, how the greatest portion of labour may be 
cxtoited from them at tlie smallest possible expense ; and as 
to any comforts beyond a bare support of life, those must be 
pi'ocured by themselves with mucli difficulty and ap])lication. 
Any thing beyond Indian corn and salt fish, such as fresh fish, 
fowl, k(\ of which this writer so much boasts, must be acquir- 
ed, at tbe expence of those luuirs which should be devoted to 
rest, and which wearied nature requires to prepare them for 
the toil of the succeeding day ; and it is only in particular 
situations, that the slaves eiijoy these advantages; it is far 
from being the common lot ; nor does tliis writer pi-etend it 
is the case, save <' in a well regulated plantation :" And as to 
their dogs ; a late Law in South Carolina has completely de- 
nied them, and even all freemen of colour, whatever may be 
th^ir j)roi)er<y, the enjoyment of that faithful and serviceable 
companion (seethe Ordirauce, passed at Charleston, June 22, 
1819.) In Virginia, the treatment of Negroes is frequently 
liarsb and unfeeling. I have this day been informed by a Gen- 
tleman, a resident in this City, on whose veracity I can de- 
pend, and whose word, none who know him would disjiute. 



27 

He has informed me, that on travelling through Yirginia 10 
years since, during the time he spent at different places he was 
every morning roused from his sleep, hy the clanking of the 
cow hide, and the screams of the ^Negroes on whom it was 
used. Tlie statement of this gentleman can he confuined hy 
the testimony of many respectahle I'esidents in this City, who 
have been in different parts of Virginia. 

The Virginian \\nter makes girat outcry against the 
immorality and indecency of the llegistry Bill ; though, tl.e 
evident design of the obnoxious clause, respecting a tiienial 
examination, was to identify tlie persons, then sla\es, and 
effectually to prevent the introduc tion of fresh ones. I do 
not defend that clause, it may or may not be defensible : hut, 
I think, this writer, before be con(1emne»l it, iis immoral and 
indecent, should have made it apjiear that it is not common, 
during hot weather, in the West Indies, for slaves to a])i)ear 
openly, in a state of nudity, lie ought also to ha\ e looked 
nigher home, lest that phrase, *' Thou hypocrite ! fiist cast 
out the beam out of thine own eye," should be ajiplied to him. 
I have the authority of the Gentleman just mentioned, to 
state, that when he passed thiough Virginia, lie frequently 
saw Negroes, 10 or 12 years of age, c<an}iletely in a nude 
state, and that it was not untVequent for them in this state, to 
wait on company and be in the presence of ladies, &c. I well 
recollect, that about 16 or 17 years since, I received similar in- 
formation, from two gentlemen, just arrived at Liverpool fi-oni 
America; a Mr. Hardisty (now residing at Baltimore) and a 
iVIr. Briggs. These Gentlemen stated, that, even in very 
genteel families, and in the presence of well dressed ladies, 
Negroes appeared in this state of nudity, and that no more 
regard was paid to the state they were in, than there was to 
the pi'esence of a dog, or any brute animal. This is degieda- 
tion with a witness!*! A question however arises, whether the 
poor slave, who thus appears, or his pampered owner, who 
suffers it, is the lower sunk in degradation. Does the clause 
in the Registry Act, exceed this ? or can it even be consi- 
dered as a justification of this Virginian immodesty? 1 leave 
our Virginian writer to answer these questions. 

Our author talks much of the exertions made in Virginia, 
whilst a Colony of Great Britain, to prevent the importation 
of slaves into the State, and the readiness of that State to sup- 
press that inhuman traffic. Of the purity of their motives, 
and the extent of their humanity, I shall speak hereafter; at 
present I ask the Gentleman wlu'ther he he prepared to prove, 
that an internal slave trade does not exist to a very extensive 
degree, both, between the different States (including his own 
humane and immaculate State of Viiginia) and between the 
individuals in different parts of the same State ? I think, we 
ought not to deal in ambiguity on this business ; we ought to 
have no reservation or covered meaning. If this writer and 



28 

myself wish the truth to appear without respect of persons or 
nations, \vc ought to meet the subject freely and openly. I 
feel myself disposed to do it ; and the public has a right to 
expect that this writer will do so too. Let him then say, 
candidly and without evasion, whether it be or be not true, 
that an internal slave traffic is carried on, under the sanction 
of the Laws, to a very great extent? Are not bunian beings 
bought and sold, bartered and transferred, like brute animals ? 
Do they not pass from one to another the same as. goods and 
chattels ? Are not families rent to pieces and forever separat- 
ed ? The dearest ties of relationship violently cut asunder ? 
Husbands sold, sent off and banished from their wives, and 
wives from their husbands ? Children of all ages, and either 
sex, torn from their doting parents, and forever exiled from 
them and their natal shed ? Parents torn from their children 
and sold to a distant State j while their hapless children are 
kept in bondage by their iidmman owner ? Are not large 
droves ofMegroesand Mulattoes, composed of dismembered 
families, annually bought up by men, who make it their bu- 
siness, to deal " in the souls and bodies of men" women and 
children, and marched by them from State to State ; from 
clime to clime ; sometimes for several hundred miles in fetters 
(either iron or rope) to a new market, where they undergo 
another separation, and are resold to the best bidder ? Are 
not the Streets of this Federal City ; the Metropolis of this 
Land of Freedom, frequently infested and disgraced with 
such disgusting spectacles ? Do not droves of mantcled slaves 
])ass the present Mansion of this writer's Relative, the Presi- 
dents House, and even the Capitol itself ? Is not the great 
Council of the Nation, and the Tem])le of Independence and 
Liberty, insulted with such scenes, and the Representatives of 
the Country pested with the sight of bands oi fettered Slaves^ 
while they enter, or retreat from, the Edifice Sacred to the 
business of a free and independent nation ? Do not such scenes 
occur, even on the Sabbath day ? I have a right to expect, 
and the public and the world demand of this Virginian, that he 
fairly and fully meet these questions and return unevasivc 
answers. Let him say w hcther these questions admit of any 
other than affirmative answers ? I assure the Gentleman, I 
shall let no evasive answer pass unscrutinized : and 1 am 
fully c(»nvinced, that he dares not so far insult the public, on 
a subjc( t with which they are so well acquainted, as to give 
)iegati\e answers to the foregoing Queries. The Gentleman 
will do well to keep in mind, that the Atlantic does not 
intervene between him and me, as between him and the Re- 
\iewers; therefore he must not hug himself in fancied security, 
and exj)ect to escape with impunity. I am on the spot, and 
possess both the will and tl»e power to stick close to him, and 
to keep him to the true point. And I require him, either to 
admit, that such abominable and atrocious traffic does exist; 



S9 

or to come forward, and openly, and unequivocally, deny its 
existence. 

i^erhaps he may say to me, as he said to the Reviewci-s, 
*« The aflumation bcin!^ yours, the burden of proof lies on 
you. Bring your evidence, exibiting facts ocairring here." 
With such demand, I might comply, to a much greater ex- 
tent than he desires, or than is necessary to my present pur- 
pose. If however lie require facts, let Jiim read Dr. Jesse 
Torrey's Picture of Domestic Slavery, he will theie find facts 
recorded of which that writer was an eye witness, or which 
he has well substantiated by the testimony of otheis. Espe- 
cially, let him read the scene which that gentleman witnes- 
sed »<on the 4th of December, 1815 (the day on wiiich the 
Sessori of Congress commenced) on that auspicious morning, 
while the members were entering the Hall, and ch)se to tlie 
old Capitol, within view from the Hall itself ; a drove jjassed, 
or as that gentleman calls them ** a procession of men, wo- 
men, and children, resembling that of a funeral ;" to which he 
approached so near, as to discover that they were bound togeth- 
er in pairs, some with ropes and some with iron chains.** 
This statement of Mr. Torrey's was confirmed to me last 
week, by a gentleman, residing in Georgetown, with whom I 
am well acquainted, and who assured me that he was himself 
an eye witness of the disgusting procession. It is unnecessa- 
ry to be thus particular in proving what is as well known and 
understood, as " that day after day the sun shines.'' Such 
occurrences are so common in this district, and in the metro- 
polis, that no one can question its authenticity : it is there- 
fore for the sake of readers in another country, that I shall 
insert Judge Morrel's remarks on this subject, as given by- 
Mr. Torrey. 

»» Judge Morrell, in a charge to the grand Jury of Wash- 
ington, at the session of the circuit court of the United States, 
in January 1816, for thedistrict of Columbia, urged this sub- 
ject to its attention, very emphatically, as an object of re- 
monstrance, and juridical investigation. lie said, the frequen- 
cy with which the streets of the city had been crowded w^ith 
manacled slaves, somvtimcs even on the Sabbath, could not fail to 
shock the feelings of all humane persons ; tliat it was rt-pugnant 
to the spirit of our political institutions, and the rights of man, 
and he bdieved was calculated to impair the public moralSf by 
familiarizing scenes of cruelties to the minds of the youth,** 

I shall not enlai-ge on the subject of jails crowded with 
these slaves of passage ; nor shall I occupy the time of the 
reader, with a detailed account of the scenes of injustice and 
inhumanity practised in a house in F street, kept by the noted 
Millar. I shall not stop to give a picture of tiie inside ot 
that house, with the secret recesses it contained for the con 
cealment of kidnapped persons of colour : nor shall I at this 
time, describe the vast numbers that fromitimo to time, werr 



80 

kept ronfined there, in readiness to be sent off to Georgia, on 
the arrival of the *• doalei-s i)i hunuin tlesh," (previously to its 
heini; hiii-nt last year) siiliicc it, that such a place and person. 
lont^ disij^i'aced this city, the seat of government; and that 
these thini^s are well known, they havin,:^ been tlie subject of 
le.i:;al investia^ation. [ shall pass on to another branch of nogro 
oppression, which calls for speedy redress, an J which n t only 
claims the altention of the Viiginian writer, but also of the 
state n-ovei-ninents ; and, in this pai*t of the Union, t!ie special 
attention of Congress, and the general government : for it in- 
volves the g'-'tieral government in blame. I allude to those 
laws, wiiich autiiorize any white man to arrest, as a run-away 
slave, any coloured man or woman, who cannot jji'oduce a 
certificate of freedom. This, I believe is the case in all the 
slave States, and is as much so in tills district, as in any part 
of the United States — I wish to speak of the geneial gov- 
ernment with the greatest respecL I would flatter myself, 
that Congress is not aware of the extent to which these abuses 
are can'ied in this distinct, over which it has the exclusive au- 
thority, atid the sole power of Legislation. I most earnestly 
entreat that body to tiirn its attention to this abuse, aid to 
extend protection to those w!io have a right, a legal right, to 
look up to ^/iri^ quarter for protection. However its constitu- 
tional right to interfere with t!ie internal slave affairs of the 
different States, may be doubted or controverted, there can be 
no doubt, resjiecting the extent of its power of interference 
in the disti-ict of Columhia; aiidyet, in this district, not only 
s!a\'ery exists in all its frightful forms: not only "groans 
echo, and whips clank round the very walls of Congress ;" 
but persons of colour may be, and are, illegally arrested, and 
tiepi'ived of tiieir liiierty. In this district, I say, under the 
very eyes of government, the constables are upon the look-out 
for runaway slaves, and they frequently catch /rce men, who 
have been in the enjoyment of liberty so long, tlsat they have 
perhaps worn out or lost their certificate of freedom, which if 
they cannot produce, they are immediately conveyed to jail : 
I'liere they lie, till their jail fees or expenses, amount to much 
more than they are able to pay ; and they are at last sold off 
as slaves, to defray those fees ami expenses : And the Georgia 
men (as they are called) are always wailing, ready to buy 
and carry tiiem off. I'lius many a poor/rc« black, Icgalbj as 
much intitled to protection as any other man, is cari-ied off 
into slavery ; and tlius, many become rich by the opjiressing 
of those wlio arc declared to be "-eqnalhj infilled to life, liberty^ 
and the pursuit of happiness.^' Even the very nature and spi- 
rit of the laws are rcvci-sed when a])i)lied to persons of colour 
in this country. It is a maxim at law, with respect to other 
p;*rsons in this country ; and it is also the maxim in every 
country, governed by laws, that the proof negative is never 
required. In all other cases, save that of blacks, the accuser 



31 

has to prove the diari^e, or to use the larii^uaa^c of our Vir- 
ginian, •* The affirmation fce.Jig- Ms, the burden if proof lies tm 
AiJW." And, acroiding to this general maxim of justice ; lie 
who seizes and accuses tlie negro as a runaway slave, onglit to 
be made to prove his accusation, or the negro siiouid he iioei-- 
ated and Cully indemnilied at the expense oi" ids accuser, dn 
this princii)Ie, the American criminal code stands. On this 
maxim the courts of justice i»roceed, a)id 1 ap])eal to our 
(t Yii'ginian," whether, as npnfsyional man, he does not ad- 
here to this maxim, in all cases, whej-e he is retained on the 
part of the defcndent. The proof nega' ive is alvvaj s exploded. 
It was tlie requirement of this proof, that the Unite<l States so 
very justly condemned in the English, relative to the seamen 
of this country; and for tiiis, among otlier causes, war was 
declared against England. 

Our Virginian \\ritcr spurns at the Reviewei-'s remai'ks 
on the demoralizing tendency of slavery, and would ])ersua(!e 
us, that no such effects result therefrom. But surely, he 
either cannot be serious ; or he can have been very little in 
the way of slaves and slave holding families ; or he must have 
been a very superficial observer of what ])asses and is pro- 
duced. 1 lave already given the logical and striking re- 
marks of the venerable Jefferson on this subject ; and the im- 
pressive charge delivered to the grand jury of Washington, by 
judge Morrcl. Dr. Jesse Torrey has detailed what he ob- 
served of the effects of slavery on the moials of the people, 
during his tour through a long tract of slave country. He has 
clearly demonstrated, that pride, ignorance, indolence, luxury 
and extravagance, are its very jjrevalent consequences. To 
these authorities, of themselves conclusive. I have something 
more to add. I ask this writer, whether he be a stranger to 
the vast extent to which an illicit intercourse is carried on 
between our male youtli and female sla\cs, and even between 
married men and them ? I ask him to account for the great 
number of illegitimate children of a brighter complexion and 
thinnei' features than their mothers ? Is he to be infoi'med, 
that many proprietors of female slaves, greedy of having an 
increase for sale or labour, are so very accommodating to their 
male friends and visitors as to give them free access to tliem ? 
Is he to be told of the number of children, mulatto children, 
which slaveholiiers, have born in their own houses, and of 
which they are the fathers? Or is it necessary to inform him. 
thatsueh offspring arc held in slavery by their fathers, broth- 
ers, and other relations? Must I menti(ni a crime against the 
laws of nature; against the common feelings and the common 
instincti\e affections of man and other animals ; a crisne 
which sinks man below the wild animals of the forest. I mean 
tiie unnatural practice of white fathers selling their coloured 
offspring; of breaking one of nature's strongest ties, making 



n 



3S 

meirliandize of the fruit of their own bodies, and of selling 
them as slavos for life too ? Will the gentleman say, that 
" the least and lowest " individual ♦< of the European nations'* 
ever committed a crime more heinous, or more degrading to 
human nature than this ? Or will he deny the existence, or 
fi'e(iuency of this detestable crime ? Should he do this, and 
call for ])roof ; I am prepared to meet his denial with a list, 
(nor will it he a small one) of cases, where men in this coun- 
try, and in this distri(ttoo, have sold tiieir children, their bro- 
thers, sisters, and other relations, just the san>e as they would 
sell a cow, or a hog : And even of men, who have n)arried 
their female slaves, and after living with them, till they have 
borne them several children, sold both the mother and the offf- 
spring together. 

The gentleman will find, that, in the ahsence of the Re- 
viewers, I have so far answered for them, as to obey his de- 
mand, when he says, «< Bring your evidence, exhibitingyacfs 
occurring here.'* 

And he may now, with as many exclamation notes as he 
pleases, retort tlie word, " Deinoralizing !" He may spurn, 
and he as eloquently indignant at the Reviewers for touching 
on the demoralizing tendency of slavery, as he thijiks fit. 
He may exert all his great talents, and as a first rate pleader, 
attempt to prove, that darkness is ligiit, and sophistry sound 
reasoning ; hut unless he can refute my statements, and dis- 
prove the existence of the things 1 have related ; or, admitting 
them true, strip them of their atrocity, they must stand as 
damning proofs of the weakness of his arguments, and demon- 
strate, that what he has said on that head, is but as so much 
dust, throAvn into the eyes of the public, to prevent their view- 
ing slavei-y, at this momentious crisis, in that hideous deform- 
ity which properly belongs to it. I think I may say with more 
propriety than he, " My business is with the fact, and I re- 
l)eat that the fact is with nu'." 

We have the testimony of historians, that slavery has 
always tDided to demoi-alizc mankind. That this was the 
case witli ancicjit Rouje, we have amjile proof in the accounts 
given of gladiators, and «»f domeslic slavery. *' Men called 
lajiist;e. made it their business, to purchase prisoners and 
nlaves. and to have them instructed in tlie use of tiie various 
weapons, and whi>n any Roman chose to amuse the people 
with tlieir favourite show, or to entertain a select company of 
his own fi'iends, up(tn any particular occasion, he ajjplied to the 
lanistre, who, for a iixed price, furnished him with as many 
[>airs of thos(> nnliappy combatants as he required." Thus, 
the great itody of the people, accustomed to scenes of 
rruclty, iitM(>«isarily imbibed a cruelty of dispositicm, and a de- 
light in the misery and sufferings of their unfortunate fel- 
Inwmen, and ♦♦ As tiiese combats formed the supreme idea- 



33 

sure of the inhabitants of Rome, the most cruel of their empe- 
rors, were sometimes the most popular ; merely because +' 
gratified the people, without restraint, in their *" 
amusement." " The practice of domestic slaver* 
influence in rendering the Romans of a '^ 
character. Masters could punisli the"' 
ner and to what degree, they tho«' 

of whips and lashes resounf'" .ler." 

" This cruel disposition domestic 

slavery prevailes extf .a hardened the 

mild tempers of the • ^-icturc has Juvenal 

drawn of the toilet of a 

Nam si constituii .-o deceutius optat 

Ornari 

Componit crinem laceratis ipsa capillis 
Nuda humeros Psecas inlelix, nudisque mamillis 
Altior hie quare cincinnus ? Taurea punif, 
Contiauo flexi crimen facinusque capilli. * 

The same causes produce the same effects in all ages 
and ill every country. Slavery, every where is injurious to 
the morals of the country where it is suffered to exist ; and 
will always engender pride, tyranny, and cruelty, in propor- 
tion to the power with whicli tiie laws invest the master over 
the slave. Hence the frequency of masters in this country 
throwing a slave into jail, without any assigned cause, pre- 
viously to selling him off; for the laws empower a man to 
confine his slaves in jail, at any time, whether he has done 
any act to merit it or not. The gentleman talks largely of the 
happiness which slaves, in this country, enjoy over the free, 
poor population of other countries. But would the poorest 
wretch on earth, who is in possession of freedom, willingly 
exchange situations with those slaves that are the best treated ? 
The gentleman holds a language on this subject, very similar 
to what is held by ail oppressors, respecting the victims of 
their oppression. Tins was the kind of language used by the 
ex-colonists of St. Domingo ; and the reply given to such by 
tliat able negro writer, the Baron De Vastey, will equally ap- 
ply on the present occasion, and is worthy the attention of this 
Virginian; for it is quite to the point. 

" Whom do they hope to persuade that slavery is a bles- 
sing ? Is it us who have experienced all its horrors ? If 
their declarations be sincere, why not put themselves in our 
place ? their example will have a far more powerful effect, 
than all the absurd reasoning they can employ." 

The Virginian urges the danger of agitating the ques- 
tion : and yet, he has brought the subject, a hundred times 

* But if she has made an assignation and wishes to be drest in more than 
usual stile. — Poor Psecas (her female slave) with her hair torn about her ears, and 
stripped to the waist, adju^sts the locks of her mistress. Why is this curl so 
HIGH .'' Presently the whip punishes the disorder of the least hair. 

5 



34 

more to the notice of the American public, and a thousand 
times more to the attention of the negroes than the Reviewers 
citlier have done or can do. He has done more.— He lias put 
on ai-mour, corap<»sed of yolished glass, and in these brittle, 
transDaient accoutrements, he has dared to throw down the 
gauntlet ; he has i)rovoked discussion, and he must now take 
tlie I' --«.pf,i,eiice of his Quixottic attack. 

He warns u^ ^.i'^hpcojisecjuences that would attend a total 
emancipation, and holds up Hayti" (St. Domingo) as aji ex- 
ample, a tenibie example, that ought to deter us from putting 
the white population in such jeopardy. This may indeed serve 
as a bug-l;ear, to frighten those who ai-e unacquainted with 
the true causes, which ur.ii:ed on the coloured ])opulatiois of that 
island, to take such awful vengeance on their white butchers : 
but those who are acquainted therewith, will entertain no such 
fears from what liappencd there. It was not emancipation 
that produced those terrible events ; but the vile attempt to 
reduce them again to slavery, after they had been years eman- 
cipated ; nor was the vengeance of tlie blacks marked with 
half the cruelty tlsat had just before been exercised upon them, 
by the mural, humane^ religionSf whites, who had commenced 
tho massai i-es, and, as 1 shall in the sequel show, carried 
tliem to a Icngtii, the recital of which, is sufficient to move the 
most flinty heart, and to raise the cvy of vengeance in the 
meekest bosom. Hence, the catastrophe in Hayti can furnish 
no ground to feai- any thing of tliat nature, frosn a prudential 
emancipation in tliis' country, especially, if means be used to 
prepare them for the blessing of liberty. But there is much 
to fear from continuing the slave system till they are driven to 
claim their rights and to emancipate themselves. Will they 
not, in those circumstances, adojjt the reasoning of the Hay- 
tian Earon I)e Vastey ? and what sophist can withstand the 
force of his arguments ? 

" But if one set of men," says lie, « arrogate to them- 
selves the right of reducing another to a state of slavery, have 
not these last an equal riglit to burst their bonds ? What ! 
can you deprive me of liberty, the most valuable esirthly pos- 
session ? Can you load me with disgraceful fetters ? And 
am not I, your brotlier, and fellow creatuie, permitted to re- 
claiin trjose rights which I derived from God alone, and of 
vhich none have a right to rob me : an» I not to be allowed, 
I say, to burst my fetters and crush you beneath their weight ? 
What abomlnabre logic ! What frightful morality ! that would 
endeavour to prove slavery a blessing, and liberty a misfor- 
tune ; an<l would endeavour to })ersuade men, that one set of 
tliem have a right to re<!uce the otiier to pei-jjetual bondage, 
without these last being allowed the right or power of making 
an effoii; to throw off the yoke." 



35^ 

These are the arguments used by a Hnytiau, a ne^ro,' 
and I ajipcal to every man capable of forming a correct opin- 
ion of the merits of a writer, whether the ♦* Letter to tlie Ed- 
inburgh Reviewers," in any part of it, contains such sound 
logic, such just reasoning, or such true rhetoric, as this single 
paragraph contains ? And yet tliis is the language, and this 
the logic, of one of the *' degraded cast- ^ — >Vel!, ^'' It is God 
who hath made us and not we ourselves.^* " Shall the thing 
formed say to him which formed it, why hast thou made me 
thus?'* Shall this "Virginian" presume to question the jus- 
tice of the Almighty, and in the pride of education ('• alas we 
takepnde in every thing, even in our " learning) shall he, in 
the pride of education, say to the Almighty, why hast thou 
fonued me a worse logician than one of tliis •< degraded cast," 
than this untutored negro ? But methinks I iiear this Yip- 
gin Ian vociferating — St. Domingo ! — the massacres of St. 
Domingo! Well, I vill meet him on that point, full in the 
face of the subject : but it shall be by proxy. 1 will let one of 
the race he so much despises as a '* degraded cast," have the 
honor of dislodging him from titat pretended stronghold. I 
will confront tlie Baron De Vastey with him, and " it is my 
pleasure " to do tiiis, as it will serve with tlie other extracts 
not only to silence his outcry about St. Domingo ; but also to 
refute what he has said respecting negro intellect, and per- 
haps, convince him, that there is at least one of the ne^ro race, 
^vhose abilities and eloquence as a writer are no way inferior 
to his own, and who as a logician, is far his superior. 

" All the world ktiows," says De Vastey, " that republi- 
can France proclaimed liberty in this island. After having, 
for ten years enjoyed this blessing under the laws ; after hav- 
ing fought and bled for Fi'ance, and given the strongest proof 
of zeal, fidelity, and gratitude for the beneiits we had rcceiv- 
<^d, they, without any visible motive, endeavoured to rob us of 
that liberty which they had granted ; as if man, a mere butt 
for the caprice of his tyrants, was to lay aside and resume his 
bonds at their pleasure. Not cojitent with employing force 
to bring us again under the yoke, tliey had recourse to art, 
a d chicanery : they told us, we were all brethren, and all 
equal in the sii^hi of God and the republic. Yet, while making 
this profession with their lips, they meditated in their hearts 
the horrible design, of either reducing us to slavery, or if that 
was found impracticable, totally exterminating us. 

*' Confiding in tJiese fair promises, the majority of in- 
habitants, having long considered themselves as French, sub- 
mitted without striking a blow or firing a musket. But 
we were soon strangely undeceived. No sooner did the 
French think themselves strongest, than they commenced 
their system of proscriptioji, and openly prodalined the revival 
of slavery. 



it Mazxies, who Avislics the world to judge of the Afri- 
cans by the crimes they have coniniitted, may Judge of Ms 
countrymen from the slight sketch I shall give, of the dread- 
ful atrocities of which ihty have been guilty towards us. ! 
horrible reilection ! which fills our hearts with sorrow, ha- 
tred, and revenge. 

»« We have seen our fellow-citi«ens, friends, relatives, 
brothers, men, women, children, aged ; without distinction of 
years or sex, dragged by these monsters to the most cruel 
punishments : some burned to deaths others gibbeted, and left 
as food for birds of prey : some thrown to dogs to be devoured, 
while others, more fortunate perished beneath the poignard 
and the bayonet. In the i)laces evactuated by the French, 
thousands of Haytians, wlio liad fought in their defence, were 
so simple, as to trust their generosity; unwilling to abandon 
them in the hour of their distress, they followed them, and 
embarked on board their vessels with their wives, their child-! 
ren, and such property as they had been able to preserve from 
pillage ; but hardly were these unfortunate wretches arrived 
on board, before they were loaded with chains and put down 
in the hold of the vessel, to be reserved for the most cruel pu- 
nishments. Every evening these barbarians made some hun- 
dreds of victims mount upon the bridge, wherejthey were bound, 
and put into large sacks, often along with children, they were 
then poignarded through the sacks, and thrown into the sea 
as food for the sharks. 

"At other times they made republican marriages, like 
those of ia Vendee : a man and a woman being bound toge- 
ther, with a cannon ball fastened to their necks, and then 
thrown into the Sea, amidst the acclamations of joy and ex- 
idtations uttered by these monsters ! Hundreds of victims 
crammed into the holds of the ships were suffocated by the 
fumes of sulpher : day dawned upon the horrors of the night. 
Oui- shores covered with the murdered corpses of our unfor- 
tunate countrymen, bore testimony to the crimes of the French, 
and gave a fatal warningof the melancholy lot which awaited 
us. Were 1 to recount all the acts of cruelty and injustice 
committed, I should fill volumes : I shall therefore confine 
myself to a few of the principal, to enable my readers to 
form some judgment of the barbarity with which we were 
treated. 

"Eye and ear witness of the facts I relate, who can ques- 
tion their veracity ? 

<» Three men were burnep alive in the Place BoyulCf 
Gape Uniry (formerly Cape Francais.) On the morning of 
this event, the rumour circulated through the town. An ini- 
mense crowd repaired to the spot, to view the prejjarations 
for this horrible auto dafe : Some attracted by unfeeling cu- 
fiositv, others to convince themselves with their own eyes, 



S7 

liow far the barbarity and cruelty ol" our tyrauts would lead 
them. I followed among these last, with a heart mourning 
the dreadful proceeding about to take place. On reaching tlu* 
Place Rotjak, I saw two stakes fixed, one of which lijid two 
iron rings, and the other one, for receiving the necks of the 
three victims. The heaps of wood were artfully an*anged 
about the stakes, with the addition of pitch, tar, and shavings, 
to render it more combustible. A vast crowd surrounded the 
pile; of whom some hung their heads, not daring to direct 
their eyes towards the feaiful preparations ; wiiile others, 
the ex-colonists and their partizans, were unable to disguise 
their joy. 

« At three in the afteiiioon, the French General Clapa- 
rede, commander of tJje Cape, repaired with a numerous staff 
to the Place Royale. The tliree victims waited the hour of ex- 
ecution; in an adjoining guard house. Claparede ordered them 
to be led to^;thc pile ; they arrived amidst the sound of martial 
music, ^sijthough in a triumphal march. The ir.famous Col- 
let, Captain of Gendarmere, preceded them with joy and fero- 
city depicted in his countenance. Each of the victims bore a 
sugar cane in his hand: they were mounted upon the pile, 
and fastened to the stakes by the iron riJigs. All was ready, 
the sacrifice was about to commence. A death like silence per- 
vaded the spectators. Clapiirede ordered fae (<) the pile; in- 
stantly the flames crackled, and began to envelope the feet of 
the sufferers ; already might one fancy t!iat he heard tlicir 
cries, and saw them struggling ainidst these dreadful torments. 
Hut oh ! stoical courage ! ! brave intrepidity ! they did not 
stir so much as a foot, but remained immoveable, and with 
tlieir attention fixed, set at defiance both their executioners 
and the flames which devoured tiiem : they were quickly en- 
veloped inflames; their bodies hurst; the fat ran upon the 
pile, and a dense smoke, accompanied with a smell of roasted 
ilesh, mounted to the sky. Terror seized the spectators ; 
their hair stood on end ; a cold sweat bedewed theii* bodies : 
they fled singly or dispersed, filled with horror ; hatred and 
vengeance rankling at their hearts. The executioners alone 
remained : nor did they quit the spot till their victims were 
completely reduced to ashes. 

*• Can I give my readers any adequate description of the 
punishment of my countrymen, who were devoured by Dogs I 
Can my untutored pen describe with any thing like accuracy 
so horrible a picture ? The imagination an(l understanding 
of my readers must supply the deficiency of my narrative. 

<< The first who were devoured by Dogs, \scvq at the 
Cape, at a convent of re^i^io^is, and in the house of the French 
General Boyer, chief of Rochambeau's staff. 

** Tiie theatre of these horrors was afterwards transferred 
to the Plantatiorj Charrer at Haut-du-Cap, whither the blood- 



m 

liounda were condurtoti ; ami to incifane their thirst for liu- 
niiiii blood, they were fed {Voiu time to tinie on human liesh. 
Tlie day 5i})«>n which there were aoy of tiiese victims to be 
devoured Wiis one of IVHiivity to these butchers. Collet, 
Foresti<M', Teisseit. liaureut, and Dai-ar, rommissaries of 
the {)olice of the Cape, (ai! Fi'ench, all ex-colonists) dressed 
themselves in full isniform, and jTut on their jirincipal scarves, 
for the purpose of att<'ncliii,'; the execution, and acconipanied 
by a ci-owd of biped blood-hounds, eager to aid the dreadful 
carnage made by tiieir quadruped brethren, a thousaml times 
less savage than themselves. Many days in advance they 
took the [)re(ai!-i')M of making the dogs fast, and, to whet 
their appetite, a victim was occasionally shown to them, and 
withdrawn j'.ist as they were about to dart upon it. At last 
the lata! nionjcnt arrived, when some unfortunate wretches 
wej'e to be dcliniteiy givtn up to them ; tiie unhappy beirigs 
were fastened to stakes in tJie jjresence of the commissaries, 
so as eftectuaily to deprive thciu of the power of saving or of 
dei'enciing theniseives. 

" '1 he dogs are loosed, and fly at their prey. In an in- 
stant, tbe'r victims are sli-ip])ed of their flesh ; tjjeir palpitat- 
ing mascles hang down in riliboiis, while the blood gushes from 
every pore; noriiing can be i'.eard but thescreames of the 
sufferers. The victims, at their last gasp implore the mercy 
of these monsters : in vaiji do they solicit <leath as the last 
favour: — prayers arc superfluous ; — nothing can move the 
hearts of these tigers, divesteii of every feeling of humanity ; 
they answer only by a convulsive grin, while they spirit on the 
dogs to their work of horror. At lengtli the voice of the vic- 
tims fails, their gi'oans are no longer to he heard, while their 
mangled bodies still continue to palpitate. The dogs panting, 
pause to rest ; they are surfeited w ith human Hesh and blood ; 
in vain the executioners encourage them anew ; they refuse to 
continue tiieir hoirihle carnage, and return to their kennels, 
leaving tiicse monsters in human shape to complete with the 
poignar(! tise yet unfinished work of death. 

" Similar cruelties were perpetrated from one end of the is- 
land to the other. 

*• Tonssaint Louverture voluntarily resigned his authority, 
and laid down his arms . he retired to his plantation divested 
of all his splendour ; and, like the illustrious Roman, culti- 
vated with iiis hands, the fields he had defended with his arms. 
He engaged us both by example and ])ei'suasion, to imitate 
liisconduct, labouringand living peaceably in the bosom of our 
families. He was drav.n into a snare. ariTsted and loaded 
with irons. His wife, his infant children, his whole family, 
his olliiers, shaied his ci-uel fate. — iimbarked in French ves- 
sels, they were carried to terminate their wretched career, 
b ' poison, in jirison, and in irons. 



^9 

♦< Generals James Maui'Ppas and Cliarlcs Helair, died un- 
der their punishments. Maurei)as was nailed alive to the 
main-mast of the Hannibal, in the presence of his wife and chil- 
dren^ along" with wliom his corpse was consigned to the deep. 
The unfortunate BeK^Ir Was shot ah)n!5 with his spouse ; this 
heroine consoled him before her death, encourae^inc; him to 
follow her example and die like a man. Tiiomany, Donmj^e, 
Laniahotiere, and a whole crowd of officers and citizens of 
rank, died the death of felons ; while those who escaped the 
j^ibbet or the assassin, fell by poison : Such was tlie fate of 
Generals Vilatte, Leveille, and Gautard ; othei-s weie trans- 
ported for sale to the Spanish main, or scut to France where 
they finished their career in the Galleys. 

<* Our forbearance beiiii^ exhausted by a repetition of 
such crimes and villainies, we flew to arms ; measured swords 
with our oppressors ; beat them corps by corps, man for man, 
fighting with stones, and sticks shod with iron, for the pre- 
servation of our liberty, our existence, and tliat of our wives 
and children ; after beljolding trnreiits or" our blood mingled 
with that of our tyrants, we remained masters oftheficid of 
battle." 

My readers will understand my motives, in introdnring 
so long an extract, am! will receive it, as a comjjlete refuta- 
tion of the arguments, which the friends of the slave system 
are in the habit of bringing against Negro emancipation, 
founded on the occurrences at Hayti. They will perceive, 
that the people of colour, had been emancipated ten years, in 
that Island ', and had made such good use of their liberty, that 
nothing was done on their part to interrujit the general safety 
or disturb the public peace, that the coniMienceiiient of troubles, 
originated with the vile attem[!t of the ex-colonists, to i-educt 
them again to slavery, after they had foi- ten years enjnye(! 
the blessing of liberty, and had given indisputable proofs of 
their gratitude for the extension of that blessing to them ; that 
the cruelties which afterwards succeeded, commenced also on 
the part of the ex -colonists ; that they wei'e carried, by them, 
to such an unparelleled. horrible degree, that tiic very vq^ i^al, 
must harrow up the soul of the reader, and fill him with hor- 
ror and detestation — Cruelties, which can oidy be accounted 
for on the ground of the demoi-alizing and cruel tendency of 
the slave system, which convei-ts men into monsters, divests 
them of every compasionate sensation and prepares them for 
any crime. And the reader will see that it wi\s not till the 
forbearance of the Haytians was quite exhausted, by the 
scenes of horror and savage cruelties contin!iaily before them; 
and of which they were the victims, that they fie w to arms, 
hurled the tremendous thunderbolts of vengeance back upon 
their oppressors, and extirpated them from tliat soil which 
they had so vilely polluted with crimes and bloo(k 



40 

Tills was nobly done ! It was risini^ from degradation to 
ihe dignity of man! It was not a jicople, comparativehj fveCf 
risi)!.!:^:, and clainniip; their Indcj»endcnce ; but it was a people, 
held in the vilest suhjec^tion, rising in the greatness of tlieir 
sti'engtij ; asserting those rights which God and nature en- 
titled thcni to, and at ojice establishing, both their freedom 
as men, and their Jnde])endence as a peoi)le or nation ; and 
1 challenge tiiis Virginian writer to " point out to us, if he 
can, in tlie history of the greatest and the highest, one single 
occurrence," more great or nn)re just, than that « now present- 
ed to his view — one which gives to a whole people a claim'* 
more »< indisj)utable to" liberty, independence, and rank 
among the ^iations ; not even excluding, that ever to be ad- 
mired. Declaration of Ar.ierican lndej)endence. And, what- 
ever tiiis, or any other interested writer may insinuate, the 
pages of future, impartial history will record the two great 
events, of American and Ilaytian Revolutions as unsurpass- 
ed by any event whatever '* in point of moral grandeur" " and 
in political importance." 

If then the s?ui(/m emancipation in Hayti was effected, 
a!id no ill cojisecpiojces arose therefrom, for the space of ten 
yiars, ar:d not then till they vvei-e driven to desperation by 
■ white o})pressors, what cause would there be to fear any 
^in this counti-y from a prudential, and gradual emanci- 
II ? But if tliC abominable system should be continued, 
all its attendant cruelties : if slave-holders should still 
luie to advertise " He has my brand on his jaw" or 
ast " (see the public pa])ers ;) if, 1 say this system should 
utimied, till slaves be driven to emancipate themselves ; 
the /(0;rr o^vcni^eance will be their\i, and the reaction will 
ibie. Well might the good Jefferson say on this subject, 
•nible for my Country, when I recollect that God is just 
lat his Justice cannot sleep forever." 
ur Yirginiaji, habituated to the shiftings, twistings, and 
ng of ground, so commonly ])ractised by some of his 
ion, foi'got that he was this time, acting a part at the 
a literary ])uhlic : and being determined to carry his 
point, if ijo'jsihjc, though it might be at the expense of consis- 
tency ; could take any hue ; assume any form: or, like the 
satyr, blow both hot and cold with the same mouth. At one 
time we find him. as *• a Virginian," identifying himself with 
tile people of that State, and, in their language, denouncing 
the traflic in slaves, as a vei-y pernicious commerce ;" and 
what *< had long been considered as a trade of great inhuman- 
ity." And speaking of the couiitry as connected with the sub- 
ject of the abolition, lie calls it an " iniquity," of which they 
had «' wasiied " their "hands." And yet, further on in his 
j)amphlet, 1)0 attempts to justify the slave system, (which in- 
( lud»>s the intei'iial traffic,) on the ground r»f natni'al justice 



41 

and tlie sacred Sci-ijitures ; and even attempts to prove, (j)age 
42) that the slaveholder has a divine right to be, what the Re- 
viewers call, « a scourger and murderer of slaves." He 
speaks of the negroes being the subjects of a " curse,*' which, 
he says, "• Noah, in his prophetic wrath," denounced on Ca- 
naan : and has quoted authorities to prove, tliat they arc the 
descendants of Hani ,• consequently of Noali, tlic common 
parent of mankind ; and tliei'eby, without intending it, has 
identified them with himself, as belonging to tiie same grciit 
human family ,• and yet, notwithstanding his having adopted 
this reasoning to justify slavery, as the ordination of God; 
he afterwards seems to question that identity, and to represent 
them, and various other pcojde, as distinct races ; and boldly 
asserts, without proof, and in direct opposition to plain iiisto- 
I'ical facts, tiiat each people respectively, arc now, wliat they 
ever were in the graduated scale of existences. To these incon- 
sistences, and to the use he has made of them, I shall pay some 
attention. 

<• The x\rab of the desart now," says he, " is the Arab 
of the desart of the most ancient days to which our histories 
ascend." And, nearly verbatim in the language of the cx- 
colonists of St. Domingo; lie says, *' Africa will contituie for 
ever to be, what it has been for nearly six thousand years — 
tlie residence of slavery and barbirism." &c. It is a little 
surprizing that tliis writer should be so unmindful of what he 
owes to his own reputation as a literary character : and to the 
honor of the family to wliioh he is allied, as to subject himself 
to the charge of being either grossly ignorant of the history 
of the world ; or if not ignorant, of at once insulting the un- 
derstanding of those who are conversant with ancient history 
and of imposing on the credulity of those who are uninformed 
on that subject. Can he be a stranger to the high character 
vnich the Arabians once sustained; and of their very rapid 
advancement in arts, science and literature ? Are they at 
present in that state ? Will he set his face against the testi- 
mony of authentic history, and assert, that notwithstanding 
what has been handed down to us concerning them, they were 
always in the same state of barbarism and ignorance, in which 
they are at present involved ? Or, has he still to learn, that 
Africa, despised, degraded Afiica, was once the seat of know- 
ledge, the very " cradle of the arts and sciences ?" Must he 
be informed, that the Egyptians thensselves were derived from 
the Ethiopians and tliat Tythagoras and all the learned of 
Greece and Rome went to Egypt to acquire learning and a 
knowledge of their mysteries of religion and science ? Is he 
ignorant of what every reader of ancient history is acquainted 
with, ris: that the Greeks, highly celebrated as they have 
been for literature, science, the fine arts, and polished manners, 
were themselves ignorant, barbarous, and brutish, till they 
G 



were ti\ili'zc(l by colonics from Jljrica? and that after Gi'cece 
>vas civilized, the rest of Eui'ojie ^\c^e as ignoiant, delrased, 
and brutal as those of Benin, of Zasiguebar, or the most bar- 
barous ])arts of Africa, can possibly be at the present day ? 
Must I further inlbiin him that almost the ^hole of Europe 
uas in this state, without havinii; acquired a single spark of 
knowledge for nearly four thousand years ? and that during 
that time, the Africans had " filled tlie world with the fame 
of their wisdom, their laws, and their governments," while 
they (the Europea)is, including the ancestors of the Ameri- 
cans) lay buried in pristine ignorance ? The Europeans and 
their descendants have indeed, in modern time, made great 
advances in knowledge and the sciences : but it must not be 
forgotten, that they <' inhabit countries, where the winters 
eat up the summers, and where necessity (the mother of in- 
vention) forces the exertion of their faculties ; while the Afri- 
cans are i>lentifully supplied, without much care or exertion, 
by their beneficent God, with evei-y thing they require ; that 
when satiated, they sit under their trees in tranquility and re- 
])ose, enjoyijig the good of life without any effort. ]3ut when 
they were required to labour, they, however, set examples 
w hie h astonished the world. I should exceed my intended 
limits, were I to descj-ibe their monuments, their statues, their 
obelisks, their public buildings, their caves, grottoes, and ca- 
nals, wiiich bade defiance to the works of man in any other 
part of the world at that day ; and many of them, even to the 
present day. That the Ethiopians, Egyptians, ^c. were 
originally identified witli the negroes, I think may be fairly 
gathered from their statues, k.c. as most of their best executed 
figures boie some resemblance of that *« degraded cast." 
Many finely executed figures found in Afi ica, and eveii their 
emblem of wisdom and science, the Sphynx of Egypt, had the 
head breast and neck of a woman ; but it was a woman with 
thick lips, a flat nose, and curled head. 

Eut the conduct of the ancient Africans toward Europeans 
was Just the reverse of the conduct of modern Europeans. 
Instead of enslaving the whites and instructing the Greeks in 
burning, pillaging and defrauding ; instead of furnishing them 
with arms, or strong liquors to derange their intellects, and 
induce them to sell one another; instead of promoting an in- 
human trallic, they introduced corn and instructed them in 
agiiculture and learning.^ Instead of inquiring into the 
moial and jihysical inferiority of these poor Greeks ,• they 
taught them to imitate themselves in the arts of society." 
Hence it w as, that " Athens, Sparta, and Corinth flourished 
while all the rest of Europe was sunk in barbarism." Erom 
Greece, learning advanced to Italy, and from Italy by very 
slow grjidations to the different pails of Europe. To Africa, 
despised Africa, therefore we must trace the origin of all our 
refinements. 



Thus, taking my stand upon the lii.a:h .qroiind of histoi-iral 
evidence, I am justilied in admonisliini^ tliis calMmniatoi' ol" Af- 
rica, to be cautious in future, how he proclaims liis own want 
of knowledge ; and before he again makes such sweeping as- 
sertions, I would advise him to turn his attention to the 
history of nations, and make himself better acquainted wirli 
the ancient histoi-y "of tlie world, than he appears to be at 
present. 

I do not advise him to study the history of the Virginian 
slave system : as I think he can he ncitlier ignorant of that, 
nor of the motives which influenced that peoph' in ITTii when 
they petitioned tlie king for power to suppress tlie importation 
of slaves, from Africa, into that colony ; hut I advise iiim, for 
his own sake, to be more correct and honest, in future, in re- 
presenting, what he must be sensible, were the true motives 
of the Virginians in addressing that ])etition, at tiiat time, to 
the British government; and more faitiifulun stating what 
he knows, respecting the inti'oduction of negroes into the colo- 
ny, and the establishment of tlie slave system there. 

I do not intend to be the champion of the British goverii- 
iiient. I mean not to Justify its measures, eithf r past or present. 
Such w^ould indeed be attemjjting an impossibility. It wotdd be 
undertaking to wash the Ethiop white. But if I cannot de- 
fend their corrupt measures; no more can f suffer t'leir culpa- 
bility to operate as an excuse, palliation, or exculpation, of the 
Virginian supporters of the slave system. IS'either can I suf- 
fer the Britisjh people to be so far identified with their govern- 
ment, as to make them responsible for its faults and crimes. 
This writer however, either reasoning by analogy, from what 
he knows respecting the identity of tlie people and govern- 
ment of this country, has ignorantly ; or, w ith a real know- 
ledge of the non-identity of tlie people and government of Eng- 
land, has des'ignedlij, so treated the subject, as to completely 
identify the people Avith measures over which they have no 
more control, than the slaves in this country have over the 
slave laws. 

Why has not this writer stated the o)igln of the first intro- 
duction of negro slaves into Vii'ginia, and of tlie institution of 
slavery there ? Why has he begun at so late a period as 1772 ? 
Did the British government come forward as a volunteer at 
the commencement of that inhuman trafiic ? At wliose instance 
was it, that the British government " allowed permission" to 
introduce slaves into that colony ? Was it at the request or 
petition of the people of England '? Or was it, not ratlier at the 
solicitation of the Virginian planters themselves, who, liaving 
purchased large tracts of land, and not satisfied with the slow 
progress they made in bringing it into an arable state by the 
labor of white slaves sent there as convicts, petitioned govern- 
ment to permit the importation- 9 negroes from Africa into Vir- 



4^t 

ginia in British or other bottoms ? The acceding to this unhal- 
lowed })etiti()n, was certainly wicked on the part of the gov- 
crnniesit. Cut to whom are we to asci'ibc the .greater chaige 
of wickedness? Whether was the more criminal; the j^ov- 
ernmenl, ivhich by Jicceding to this petition, was accessary to 
the crime, and shared in the guilt, or the people of Virginia 
Avith wliom if originated, who were the first movers in it ; 
i'rom M horn the jjctition was sent ; for wliose interest it was 
acceded to; and who v^ere the direct actors in this wicked- 
ness ; wlio first threw out the bait to the merchants, next pur- 
chased the slaves, and finally became the monsters, the acting 
monsters, in the practical crime of slave tyranny ? 

As this writei' proclaims himself a ''Virginian," let him 
<* speak now for Virj^inia " in re[)ly to the foregoing queries ; 
and let him refute the remarks connected therewitii, if able. 

This writer places great stress on the Virginian petition 
of 1772 ; and on the duty laid on the importion of slaves. As 
to the latter; it is not stated in the cajjtion of tlie law, that 
the duty was laid on, in order to restrict the importation of 
that mercantile commodity ; but merely to raise a revenue. 
As to the petition, a little critical examination of its con- 
tents, and connecting tiiercwith, the circumstances in which 
the opulent slave ow»?crs were placed, will make it appear, that 
their motives were not so pure, nor their humanity so genuine, 
as he would represent it. Tlie instrument contains certain 
ostensible reasons for petitioning. The two prominent ones 
are, the trade being cai-ricd on by British Merchants ; and 
that their prayers were foinided on fear for their 'Safety. An- 
other powerful motive, tho'.igli not expressed, seems to have 
influenced the opulent slave holders and induced them to pe- 
tition for the suj)pression of the importation ti'ade, ri^. that 
of raising the value of their slavQ property. They had rear- 
ed or bred on their estates, a large stock of Slaves. They 
had more than were necessary to perform their work. They 
however found the breed cf slaves, the most profitable live 
stock they could rearfor sale, and nicely calculated, that their 
value would be as much enhanced by sto])ping the impoi-tation 
of them, as the value of any domestic manufactured goods is 
enhanced by the non-importation of those articles ; and upon 
this princii)le they seem to have acted : for they have done 
nothing during the period of more than 40 years, which has 
elapsed since they became independent, to eiadicate slavery, 
or to prevent an internal trafficin s\a.\QH : but the dismember- 
ing of fiimilies; the sending off large droves of manacled 
slaves, and tlic cruelties of the slave system still continue. 
Where then was the sincerity of their professions of humani- 
ty, as expressed in the petition, and reiterated by this wi-itei' ? 

lie has the effrontery to tell the advocates ibr the aboli- 
tion of the slave system, that their humanity costs them no- 



43 

tliiiij^ ; hut prorures for tliem (lisfmction as well as profit. To 
repel this charge, I need hut meuiion a few well known cha- 
racters in this country, who have mauilested the disinterest- 
edness of their humanity hy the sacrifices tliey have made in 
the cause. Can such motives be iuiputed to Buslirod Wash- 
ington ? Will this writer say thattlie two Brothers, Thomas 
and Ferdinando Fairfax, made no sacrificv, when they li!)crat- 
ed all their slaves, and made jirovision for their support? 
AViien Mr. Jeiferson spoke against slavery, had he nothing to 
give up ? Was it nothing for the great Wasliington, to fix the 
manumission of all his slaves, and make provision for such 
as needed it ? 

I shall examine the derence he has set up, grou)ided on 
" revealed Religion, previously to nseeting his remarks on the 
principles of the Lavv' of nature. The ground he has hci-e 
taken he has attempted to support hy a fourfold kind of ar- 
gument, vix>. Propliecy, Example, Mosaic Law, and the Gos- 
pel. 

In meeting him on these gror.nds, it is proper to notice, 
that he does not pri)fess to enter upon this part of his de- 
fence of slavery, as an advocate for s^ruth : hut like a true son 
of the bar, ready to catch at any advantage which j)resents 
itself, determines to batlle, if possible, where he cannot refute. 
And though he cannot say, "that hy theprincij)les of natural 
law, or the precepts of revealed Religion, slavery was a legi- 
timate state of human existence" an(i '< begs it to be underr 
stood that he is not giving — at least it is not his object to give 
— his own opinions:*' Yet he has availed himself of the sup^ 
posed authority of the Scriptures, and endeavoured to repre- 
sent thasc who condemn Slavery as a crime, to ho guilty of 
^' blasp/jcmy against tiie most HighJ^ 

This kind of argument may sometimes succeed at the bar, 
where the interest of the Client, not the justice of the cause, is 
intrusted to the advocate ; though, to do justice to the profes- 
sion, I fully admit, that the most eminent Lawyers have too 
much integrity to adopt this as a rule of proceeding : but in 
this controversy, where tlie interest of a wlnde })eople, and 
the cause of humanity are at stake, tlie Lawyer ought to have 
been dropt and the man, the honest unbiased man alone sliould 
have appeared. Having however thus committed himself, he 
must now be identified with tiic arguments he has chosen to 
adopt, and it behoves him to defend them as if they were really 
his own and accorded with his own o])inions. For to wliat 
purpose has he introduced them unless he believes them, and 
considers them conclusive. 

On the authority of Bishop Nev.ton, he says, that the Afri- 
cans *< arc the descendants of Canaan," the Grandson of 
Noah. If so, they must be of the same original descent as our- 
selves, and consequently our brethren. It then must follow, 



40 

tliat any arguments wiiiclj tins writer may iiave advanced that 
imply ;i C()iitra)-y opinion, arc overthrown by such admission : 
ior ir the Africans orii^ijially sprani^ from the same common 
paronta.2;e, they cannot be a distinct race, spran,^ from an 
orii^'inally (list ijict stock or parentage. But, says lie, "Noah 
in his prophetic ^^■ratll said. Cursed be Canaan,'^ kc. I should 
be glad to learn, throui^h what authentic source of information 
this wi'iter has ariived at the certainty, that Noah, just awak- 
ing; fi'om beastly drunkenness, was divinely inspired with the 
irift of prophecy ? ]3o the Scriptures contain this information ? 
Have succeeding events proved his wrath proi)hetic ? Were 
tiie descendants of Ham, slaves to the descendants of Shem 
and Japiieth, any more than the two latter descendants were 
to the former ? Were Africans more held in slavery during 
the first 5000 years of the world, than either Europeans on 
Asiatics ? Did the slaves among the ancients consist princi- 
pally of persons of colour ? Or, did the Negro slave trade com- 
mence more than a few centuries back ? Unless these queries 
can be met VNith well substantiated alHrmatives, the divine 
right of slavery can derive no support from the supposed jjro- 
yliciic wrath of Noah. 

Nor does slavery derive any support or justification from 
what is recorded respecting the ancient Patriarchs having 
slaves. The plain historical nari-ative Avhich is given of the 
actions and conduct of Men in that day can be no justification 
of such actions or condiict ; much less can it authorize the same 
in the present enlightened age and state of the world. The 
world was then in its infancy, and every tiling was immature. 
The most civilized were but in a savage state, compared with 
the jjresent state of society and of tlie world : and though 
slavery is mentioned in the Scriptures and not condemned by 
the narrators, it must be remembered, that they, as faithful 
historians, narrated things just as they were, frequently stat- 
ing the simple fact v.ithout any comment. The bare mention 
of Abraliam, Isaac. &c. having a number of servants or slaves, 
can be no more a justification of the practice, than Abraham's 
taking his maid servant to his bosom ; Jacob having a plurali- 
ty of wives and concubines ; Lots daughters committing in- 
cest with their father, David's ha\ ing several wives ; The 
Old Prophet of Bethel being guilty of lying, Ahithophel's com- 
n itting suicide, can aiithoi-izc and justify polygamy, fornica- 
tion, incest, lying or suicide in the jjresent day, for in all 
tliC foregoing cases, these things are narrated without any 
comment or expressed disapprobation, just the same as the 
other. 

But, says this writer, the <•' Jewish code of Laws" " au- 
thorizes slavery." As however he has admitted that he has 
not taken the trouble to ascertain what he should or should 
not belie^■o ; he assumes tow much, when he says, " the Pen- 



47 

tateuch must be abandoned as an absolute imposture, if tlie 
Law authorizing slavery is (be) not of divine original" Per- 
haps I may be able to shew, that as this writer ha,s given 
himself so little trouble to understand what be reads or writes ; 
instead of tiie friends of humanity rejecting the " Pentateuch 
as an absolute imposture," they will reject his api»lication of 
it, as absolute sopliistry, founded on absolute ignorance of the 
drift and connexion of Scripture. 

Moses, as a wise legislator, adapted his laws to the then 
state, habits, and information of the peo])le for whom they 
were framed. In that age of barbaiism, it was impossible to 
bring any whole people to ado])t, and be governed by a code 
of laws which were founded on, and in every respect confor- 
mable to the strict principles of Justice ; all that could be 
done in that ferocious age, was to soften and resti'ain, not 
totally abolish every species of cruelty and injustice, which 
long habit had established. Moses adapted himself to the ex- 
isting state of things ; and his laws, however apparently severe 
some of them may seem to us in tliis enlightened period ; were 
but substitutes in the place of greater cruelties, and imposed 
real restraints on the Jewish nation. And in so doing he act- 
ed as the fi'ien'd of the people and the faithful and approved 
servant of Jehovah. I expect, the great founder of Christi- 
anity understood the natui-e of the Mosaic precepts as well sm 
this writer, and was as able to cxj)lain their designs as he can 
be. lie called them the commands of Moses and in speaking 
of one of them, which stood Just upon the same foundation as 
those which respected slavery, sai<l ••' Moses because of the 
hardness of your hearts suffered you," &c. « but from the be- 
ginning it was not so." Or as the {)i»rrallel place reads it, 
•'• for the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept, 
but from the beginning of the creation, &c." There is enough 
contained in the Books of Moses, to show, that slavery was 
not considered by him as a "legitimate state of human exis- 
tence" and that he did not consider them as true and just pro- 
perty. Had he considered them as such, he would not have 
commanded any persons to harbor or secret such projicrty from 
the rightful owner. Yet he expressly chai-gcs, '•' Thou shtdl 
not deliver imto his master a servant f slave J 7vhich is escaped 
from his master unto thee : he shaU, dwell with thee, even anuyn:^ 
you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gales where 
it likeih him best ; thou shall not oppress him" ((uery. Does 
not this precept, sanction the coinhsct of certain pei-sons to- 
w^ards « runaway slaves" whicli this wi'iter points at, whe» 
he sarcastical hints at their «' silent meetings ?" And may it 
not serve to encourage many conscientious persons to alford 
an asylum to the poor oppressed Negroes ? 

Nothing can be gathered, in support of the slave system, 
from the language of the New Testament. The allusions made 



48 

to servants in the parables, is notliin/^ in proof of the justice oi" 
that system. In all parables there is o3ie main object in view, 
and every thin;;^ else introduced, tends to that object : and it 
is the desi.s;n of sucji parable, nottiie langua.2;e or epithets used 
in diTSsiii!:^ it up, that we ai'c to look to for instruction. So 
far as parables may be considered preceptive, wc must look to 
the end the speaker had in view, for that i)recept. So, of the 
man that fell anionq; thieves, the ;<2jreat object of Jesus was to 
teach the en(piii'er whom he onglit to consider as his neij^hbour, 
and perform to him, thou£j;!i an enemy the duties of mercy. 
This was his method v. hen he tauji^ht by parables. 

His ])lain unadorned precepts, j^ive no countenance to 
slavery : for he inforced u])on men this doctrine ; that they 
were all brethren ; tlie equal children of one hcaveidy Fatlier; 
and tlie etpia! objects of liis kind and paternal care. Nor 
could he possibly mean to countenance slavery or sanction it 
as a divine appointment, when he said, in the lans;uage which 
this writer has quoted, -l came not to destroy the Law or the 
Pro})hets, but to fulfill." He could not intend, that he came 
to fulfil, or sanction, that statute of Moses, which, while it im- 
posed certain restrictions, did not wholly prohibit slavery ; 
any more than he intended many other things, allowed by the 
Mosaic code : for if by the term law, as used by Jesus, we 
are to understand, every thing expressed in the Mosaic code ; 
then notiiing could be left out : but we find tliat this quotation 
forms a part of that excellent sermon, delivered by him on the 
Mount; in which, he plainly expressed his dissent from many 
things contained in that code : and, unfortunately for the ar- 
gmnent which our Vii-ginian has grounded thereon, he, in 
that very Sermon, hath givoi us his meaning of the phrase, 
and informed us what he understood to be the sum and sub- 
stajice of the law and the projjhets" which he came " to fulfil." 
I request this writer to attend to his words, and reconcile it 
with his own conduct, as a slave-holder and a slave defender, 
if he can. <* Whatsoever ye would," saith Jesus, " that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them ifor this is the law and 
the prophets.'' V/ould the advocates for slavery like to be held 
in bondage as slaves themselves ? H" not, how are they con- 
forming to this christian precept while they hold their fellow 
mcu in that state of bondage and degradation ? Is this doing to 
others as they would have otliei's do to tiiem ? And yet this is 
the <' law and the })rophets," which Christ said, he came not 
to destroy but to fuliil. And indeed, Moses went a little 
further tiian this v.riter was desirous to inform us about, for 
he commanded the mansfcaler to be put to death. ** He that 
stealeth a man and selkth him ; or if he be found in his 
hands, he shall surely be md to death.** The admonitions of 
Paul, give no countenance to slavery. The enemies to the 
sla, e system, if good men, are in the habit of giving the same 



49 

adinonitlous to servants as this writer reminds us, J*«\il did. 
There are two thini^s however tliat I must notice, 'i'lie fust 
is, that this writer's (juotation tVoni Tmothy is nuitihited, j:cr- 
verted, and niiHaj5])liiHl. He has onutted tiie piii'ase or sen- 
tence which precedes wdiat ho has «iuot.ed, and whi.h stands 
connected with it. '* These thincjs teach and exhort " which 
evidently embraced all the directions and instructions he had 
g-iven to Timotliy, in the iive ])receding- cinij)ters, and was not 
confined to servants in particuhir. in the second place, I 
niiist tcil him, that h(^ has been \q\y nnfbrtunate in int)-oduc- 
h\^ the case of Onesimns tiie sei-v;uit of Philemon. I would 
advise him in iuturc to i-ead Tor himselt' the scripture w'tich 
he ((notes in defence of his system ', for notwithstaiidine; the 
authority cd" Dr. Hewlett ; and his own ti'iun!p!i, he has en- 
tirely mistaken the condact of "aid on iliat occasion, lie did 
not send (hiesimous hack to Pliilemon in the capacity of a 
slaxe. He reqested him to receixe hins, •' JS^'ul now as a ser- 
vant bat above a servant, a brother lelovcd.^^ And again, he 
saith ; *' If iho'a count mc therefore, ;ui':uir, riceive him as 
Uiijselii.'* So far from the Scriptures a;:( 'id; i/.in'-: slavery, the 
g-enQrai scope of them is against it. Tiic Cinistian religion 
inculcates. principles directl} op})osed to it, and no man, who 
understands the prece])ts (if tin- gos[)el, and is inSuenced by 
the spirit of the great nnuj'M'r ; or wlio is v>;5r[!!y t) be called 
a Christian, will ever, either advocate, or coiiutcnar.ce, so ini- 
quitous a system. *, j 

As to natural law, tliis writer !ms hiii' glanced at it. He 
has indeed introduced a few names of greal men, bat he has 
oap'^dy given us to understand, titat it was tiie opinioji of those 
''jurists and divines, that slavery may be justltied on princi- 
ples of natui-al law," but he has given none of their argu- 
ments in favour of slavery. I aju sorry he has omitted tliis ; 
because, had he done so, perlians I might have discovered, 
that he was as capable of misapply Issg their language, as he 
has been that of tiie Reviewers, i'his however he has done, 
he has mentioned Paley as one of the number, altliough Paley 
was almost oire of the first who, in England, made exertions 
ibr the abolition of the trade. 

He defines natural law, or the law of nature, to be " right 
reasoti and justice inde]>endent of mani(i[>al law, applied to 
individuals :" but he has not atteni])ted ta prove, tliat slavery 
is consistent therewith ; he has barely asserted that it is. I 
am willing to abide hy his definition of natural law^ : and the 
question )iow is wliat is <' riglit reason and justice indepeiy. 
dent of municipallaw? This must lead us back to first 
princijiles ; and to view man in the enjoyment of his natural 
rights, unrestricted hy social comjiact. Man is the creature 
of God ; and God is the equal Father of ail, and, to use the 
words of the Declaration of Lidenendcnce, we must " hold 
7 



50 

tlu'so trntlis to be solt'-evidoiit, lliat all men are created c(]iial 
— Ihattiicy arc endowed by the Cj-eator. with certain «j/a- 
iicnable ri.i^hts — that anionj^ them are life, liberty, and the pur- 
suit of happiness. " In this state ma)i lias no other control 
but the exercise of liis own reason, a)id the .a,-nidance of Use 
i!iherent i)rincij)!e of justice, whicli the great i'arent of all has 
implanted in every bosom, rix..- that of doin.e; no injury to 
others, or in the lan!^-iiaa;c of that precept ^^hich is tiie sum 
and substance of l!ic *' law and the ])r(!plie1s,'" a»ul of all just 
law, of doing to others as lie v ould have others do to liim. If 
then, all men be natinally equal and ha\ e an equal ri.^lit 1o 
liberty, then no one can, without vislatinpi; this natural law, 
deprive his fellow men of that blessing ; and it was on this 
fiindcnnciifal principle, that tlie American people rested their 
claim to indej)endence. But if no one has a right to depiivc 
another of tiiis liberty, it follows tliat no one lias a right to 
hold another isi bondage who is already depri\ ed thej-eof. be- 
cause the law of nature, Vvhich gives a man a right to enjoy 
liberty, and pi-oiiibits its being wrested from Itim, gi^es him 
also a claim to a restoration to liberty, after he has be<'n de- 
prived thereof. This p3'inci}*le was also thus acte*^ u])ffrf by 
the Ainerican people, when they reclaimed their liijerty and 
struggled for. and obtained, a restoration of what they had 
been deprived of. — Justify the slave system, and } on annul 
the princijtles of natinul law. — Bay it is just, and correct to 
hold men as slaves i*^^/iid you justify the confiuct cF tl;e Bri- 
tish government towards this country, prior to tlic rcvolutioii. 
Say the slaves are your j>i'operty nvd you have a rightful 
dominion over them ; so said the British government Vi^tti 
they pursued their oppressive measures. Ye were calle<l the 
subjects of the king, over which he had a rightful doujinion : 
ami even the great eternal was insulted in the national 
churches, Vvith a standing form of prayer, beseeching him, 
to turn the hearts of his (the king's) rebellious subjects in 
North America. It was even coiisidcred a (firi/U' right wMiich 
lie had over you. Deny the clains of the negroes to emanci- 
pation, and you deny t!ie justice of your own pi-oreedings in 
the revolutioiiai-y struggle. Jf man, according to first princi- 
ples, be, by the law of nature entitled to libeity : and if his 
right to that blessing be nnaH enable ; then, no social compact 
can repeal that law ; no order of things ca'i make that rd/eva- 
hle \\]\\v\\ in its ov*n essential nature is nnalienahle, Man. 
in forming, or coming into, the social compact does not sur' 
render tluit right, for tlmt wliich is nnaUevuhlc, can neitiier ftc 
surrendered, nor justly wrested IVnm its possessor. But 
slaves arc not under any sftcial conjpact ; they have inade no 
suri-ender : they have given up nothing : they have been vio- 
lently robbed of every thina: : they ha\e been sti'ipped of their 
birtli rights, degraded and debased, and iiow their oppressors 



51 

claim til cm as tlieii' property, aiul talkoCtlie injustice of do- 
privine; tliem of that property. 

It would be (lci'o.2;atiiig from the cliaractcr of tlic Parent 
of the universe to impute to liim the crimes of men, and to 
make him a party with them in their injustice and cruelties. 
lie is no respector of persons. He halli made of one hload the 
whole race of man to dwell on all the face of the eaith ; there- 
f(tre let not the slave-holcJcis any more ])resume to call him 
their •» ally," or accuse him of laieqnal dealings with his ra- 
tional creatures 

It would far exceed my limits, were I to enter upon a fidl 
refutation of all the caiumnies he has heaped rpon the British 
people, w hile identifying; them with the conduct of their gov- 
ernment. Suffice it for the present to state, that the a;reat 
mass of the British people were decidedly as^aijist slavery, 
](injj;. vciy long- Iwfove the abominable ti-adc was abolished ; 
that they did all in their |>ower to put an end to it: tiiat not only 
the pu'olic prints and the productions of other writers repro- 
bated the trade : but whole communities left o.T usinc^ sugar, 
and various commodities which were known to be cultivated 
by slaves ; and, that had the people of England that control 
over their governttient which the jjeoplc of tliis country have 
over f/teirs, the trade would have been abolished tw enty or 
thirty years before it was* abolished by this country. 

^Vc are required to point out the means of removing tho 
evil as well as condemn it. This may be dmic in a few plain 
words. Viewingit 7/Jora//i/, I willsay ; do justly — do as you 
wt>!ild be done by — emancipate — give up the ps-operty you 
never had a right io hold ; and an approving conscience and 
tho blessing of heaven, w/ill be amjde indemnity — Is saf(tij an 
object of importance ? Look at the examj)le of the northern 
States and the result. Or look at St. Domingo, during the ten 
years that succeeded emancipation there: and like them secure 
the gratitude and attachment of the coloured ])opulation by 
ToZ?i»Za?7/;/ abolishing slavery. But if individual (sr public 
safety be nothing to you^ look at St. Domitigo after the ])eriod 
I have mentioned ; rivet the ( hains of your slaves ; withhold 
emancipation, till the fast increasing coloured popidation be 
strong enough to emancipate themselves ; and then blame 
yourselves for the tremendous consequences. 

Before I conclude, I must remind the reader, that the 
Edinburgh Reviewers have made no attack on the American 
people, save on the subject of slavery. On every other sub- 
ject, tliey have spoken highly of this country. Thev have 
past high encomiums on its government, its laws, its public 
servf^nls. the frugal management of its expences, and on tlie 
independent sj)irit which pervades all ranks of American citi- 
zens. The strong epithets, and the severe expressions which 
they Isavc used, are all directed agairst the slave system, and 



^/^, 



52 



:ixaiiist ihiil system exclusively. Ami these wei-e called l\)nh4 
on reviewinp; the statements given ol' the cruelties, the shock- 1 
iiii^' ciHiellies, practised under that system and sanctioned ' 
(some of them at least) by the laws. And they have more , 
csi)ecially condemned the existence of slavery in this country, J 
than in any other, because this is the freest, and best ,2;overn-! 
ed country in the world, and belter understand the princi- 
pies of liberty. Hence they have acted ai.nTea!)ly to that gos- i 
pel maxim, '< He who knowcth his master's will and doctli it not, ) 
shall be beaten Avith mamj stripes." And, agreeably to this \ 
maxim I also have acted in this i-efutation, making a dillei'- ; 
ence between the ^\riter who /.7/orc?7/^/?/ and designedly per- j 
verts and misrepresents the language asid intention of those ) 
against whom he writes, and he who mistakeulij does so. ' 

The injustice and cruelties Avhich I have recorded ase 
but a sample, a veiy small sample of wliat I could have intro- j 
(!uce<l ; my object being to defend the Reviewers against the] 
unwortI;y attack made upon them, and to impress the public'; 
with the cruelty and demoralizing t<-n(;cncy of t!:e system, a'; 
system, w hicls, to t!je honorof this c ounti-y, I am liappy to say, \ 
is detested by the great douy ov the American People.^ 

In taking leave of our Virginian for the present. 1 would i 
recommend, that in future, he no moie atiemj)t to make the ', 
Almighty and his llcvelatiou, allies with him in tliis atrocious j 
cause. His turning over thei)ages of the iiiblc in search of « 
something to justify the initpiitous piactice, strongly reminds ' 
me of the lines of Mooi'c, with which, with a li die alteration, I J 
shall c«nchide lius pamphlet. 1 



Just fk>i) ! iiow ;rA fill must thou loo!;, ' 

Wiieii surli 11 wietdi bt'foic -rnr.E stain's, j 

Unblushing- with thy sacred Hook ; j 

Turning it's leaves with blood-stain'd hands . J 

And wTcsting- IVom it's page subliuie, ;' 

ilts creed Cor slavery aud crime. J 



